title: Serum potassium is associated with prediabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes in hypertensive adults from the general population: the KORA F4-study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evidence suggests that low serum potassium concentrations or hypokalaemia induced by the intake of diuretics are associated with incident diabetes and increased risk for diabetes in persons with hypertension. We examined a possible association between serum potassium and prediabetes (defined as isolated impaired fasting glucose [i-IFG], isolated impaired glucose tolerance [i-IGT] or combined IFG/IGT), as well as known and newly diagnosed diabetes (NDD), in 32- to 81-year-old men and women with and without hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional analysis was based on 2,948 participants in the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA) F4 study conducted in 2006-2008 in southern Germany. Serum concentrations of potassium were measured by indirect potentiometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the total sample there was no association between serum potassium concentrations and prediabetes. In hypertensive persons however serum potassium levels in the first and second quartile compared with the highest quartile were independently significantly associated with prediabetes after multivariable adjustment (OR for prediabetes, 2.02 [95% CI 1.27, 3.21] for quartile 2 and 2.00 [95% CI 1.27, 3.15] for quartile 1), while in persons without hypertension no association was found. In multinomial logistic regression analysis these findings could be confirmed. In hypertensive participants after multivariable adjustment the associations were statistically significant for i-IGT and NDD (i-IGT OR 1.23; NDD OR 1.41). However, in non-hypertensive persons, all associations between serum potassium levels and each of the categories of impaired glucose regulation were non-significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum potassium levels were independently associated with prediabetes and NDD in hypertensive adults from the general population.
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health GmbH, Institute of Epidemiology II, Neuherberg, Germany. christa.meisinger@helmholtz-muenchen.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meisinger
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stöckl
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Rückert
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Döring
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thorand
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heier
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huth
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Belcredi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kowall
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rathmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011188:Potassium / Q000097:blood*; D011236:Prediabetic State / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D011188:Potassium