Is Primary Aldosteronism Associated with Diabetes Mellitus? Results of the German Conn's Registry

Aldosterone excess in the context of primary aldosteronism (PA) has been associated with impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus. We retrospectively assessed the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in patients from the German Conn's Register and compared the data with those from hypertensive subjects of a population-based survey. In a case-control study, we have compared 638 patients with PA from the German Conn's registry who were treated in 6 German centers with 897 hypertensive control subjects from the population-based F3 survey of the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA). The samples were matched for age, sex, and blood pressure in a 1:1 ratio. Risk factors associated with the presence of diabetes mellitus were calculated in 638 patients with PA and 897 hypertensive controls. In the case control study, the diabetes prevalence was calculated in 338 cases and controls. In patients with primary aldosteronism, age, BMI, and a higher number of antihypertensive drugs (lowest tertile vs. highest tertile) were variables associated with diabetes mellitus. In contrast, serum potassium and plasma aldosterone concentrations were not associated with higher diabetes prevalence, whereas diastolic blood pressure was inversely associated with diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus was more prevalent in patients with PA than in 338 matched controls (23 vs. 10% in controls). Our data for the German population show that diabetes mellitus is more prevalent in patients with primary aldosteronism than in hypertensive controls.