The Study
Inflammatory biomarkers suPAR, IL-6, and hsCRP and 13-year risk of mortality and MACE in type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study
This study looked at people with diabetes and noticed that those with higher levels of certain blood markers tended to have more heart problems or die sooner. But it didn’t change anything to see if the markers caused the problems — it just watched what happened over time.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Doctors tested blood markers of inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes to see who might have heart problems or die sooner.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 552 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this means inflammation levels can help identify diabetic patients at highest risk, even when other risk factors are accounted for.
- 2People with the highest suPAR levels had a 70% chance of dying over 11 years; those with the lowest had only 19%.
- 3Having two high inflammation markers doubled or tripled the risk of death or heart events.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Heart Journal
Year
2025
Authors
H. Bahrami, P. Jørgensen, L. J. H. Rasmussen, J. Eugen-Olsen, P. Rossing, M. Jensen
Related Content
Claims (6)
Higher levels of hsCRP in the blood are consistently found in individuals with systemic inflammation and are associated with worse health outcomes.
Adding three blood biomarkers—suPAR, IL-6, and hsCRP—to the SCORE2-Diabetes risk calculator improves how accurately it identifies which adults with type 2 diabetes are at higher or lower risk of death or serious heart events.
Among adults with type 2 diabetes, those with the highest levels of suPAR have a 70% chance of dying from any cause during the study period, while those with the lowest levels have a 19% chance.
Adults with type 2 diabetes who have higher initial levels of the inflammatory biomarkers suPAR, IL-6, and hsCRP experience higher rates of death and serious heart problems over 11.4 years, with those in the highest suPAR group having a 70% death rate versus 19% in the lowest group.
Adults with type 2 diabetes who have two or more elevated inflammatory biomarkers have a 1.9- to 2.5-fold higher risk of dying from any cause or experiencing a major cardiovascular event than those with one or none elevated, regardless of other known risk factors.
Adults with type 2 diabetes who have higher levels of interleukin-6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein have a 1.9- to 2.5-fold higher rate of serious heart events, such as heart failure, heart attacks, or strokes, over an average of 11.4 years of observation.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.