EFFECT OF LOW-DOSE HEPARIN ON URINARY ALBUMIN EXCRETION IN INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

We investigated the effect of heparin on urinary albumin excretion in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. 39 patients with pe rsistent urinary albumin excretion of 30-300 mg/24 h were randomly tre ated for 3 months with subcutaneous injections twice daily of isotonic saline, 5000 IU unfractionated heparin, or 2000 anti-Xa IU low-molecu lar-weight heparin. Unfractionated and low-molecular-weight heparin in duced a significant reduction in urinary albumin excretion (p=0.04 and p=0.004). The mechanism and clinical relevance is unknown but deserve further attention.