Markus MRP, Ittermann T, Schipf S, et al. - The study demonstrated that when comparing individuals with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus, women are described to have a stronger relative increase in cardiovascular mortality than men. The results indicated that higher lipoprotein(a) concentrations in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus than in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus might partially explain this finding.

• Researchers examined data from 7,443 individuals (3792 women, 50.9%), aged 20 to 81 years, from two independent population-based investigations, SHIP-0 and MONICA/KORA S3.

• In this study, 657 participants (404 men and 253 women) died of cardiovascular causes during a median follow-up of 20.5 years (136,802 person-years).

• Men had a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular mortality compared to women in unadjusted models and after adjustment, among individuals without type 2 diabetes mellitus.

• On the other hand, the risk for cardiovascular mortality was not different between men and women in the unadjusted model and after adjustment for age, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, fasting status, and study sample (SHIP-0, MONICA/KORA S3) in participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

• In individuals without type 2 diabetes mellitus, further adjustment for lipoprotein(a) concentrations had no impact on the hazard ratio (HR) for cardiovascular mortality comparing men vs women [HR: 1.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.63 to 2.32; p < 0.001].

• Nevertheless, further adjustment for lipoprotein(a) led to an increased risk for cardiovascular mortality in men and a decreased risk in women resulting in a statistically significant difference between men and women In individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (HR: 1.53; 95% CI 1.04 to 2.24; p = 0.029).