Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between blood glucose level and blood pressure variability in hypertensive patients. Methods A total of 125 hypertensive patients hospitalized in the department of cardiology in our hospital during May 2015 to October 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into hypertension with diabetes mellitus group (n=59) and hypertension without diabetes mellitus groups (n=66). Data of blood pressure, blood pressure variability and blood glucose levels were analyzed in the two groups. Results (1) Hyperlipidemia, low density lipoprotein and cholesterol levels were significantly lower in the hypertension with diabetes mellitus group than those of hypertension without diabetes mellitus group. Level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), 24 h diastolic pressure variability coefficient (24 hDBPCV), daytime systolic blood pressure variability coefficient (dSBPCV), and daytime diastolic pressure variability coefficient (dDBPCV) were significantly higher in the hypertension with diabetes mellitus group than those of hypertension without diabetes mellitus group (P<0.05). (2) Spearman correlation analysis showed that hypertension with diabetes mellitus was positively correlated with 24 hDBPCV, dSBPCV and dDBPCV. (3) ROC curves of HbA1c for diagnosis of non-dipper blood pressure in hypertensive patients showed that the cut-off value of HbA1c was 5.85% and the area under curve was 0.692 (P<0.05). The sensitivity was 71.1% and the specificity was 63.7% . Conclusion The present results demonstrate that blood pressure variability is increased in hypertension patients with higher blood glucose. HbA1c level has potential clinical value for diagnosis of non-dipper blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

Key words: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, blood pressure variability, non-dipper blood pressure