Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Insulin resistance is classically a feature of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). It may also develop among patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) increasing the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Metabolic syndrome (MS) reflects a state of IR. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of MS in a population of young adults with T1D and compare it to healthy controls.

Methods: We conducted a case control study including 68 T1D patients and 68 healthy controls matched for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). The study subjects were young adults, aged between 18 and 45 years. Subjects with other autoimmune, inflammatory, or neoplastic diseases, as well as those with renal failure, were not included. Each patient and each control underwent a physical examination (anthropometric parameters and blood pressure) and a fasting biological sample collection for the measurement of fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and lipid parameters. MS was diagnosed according to the International Federation of Diabetes (IDF) criteria.

Results: The study population consisted of 58 men (42.6%) and 78 women (57.4%). The mean age was 29.4±7.23 years. The mean BMI was 24.9±3.9 Kg/m² for T1D patients and 25.0±4.1 for controls (P=0.823). The median duration of diabetes was 11 years (IQR: 4.2 –17.0). The HbA1c median was 8.5% (IQR: 7.7-10.8) in patients with T1D and 5.0% (IQR: 4.9-5.1) in controls (P<0.001). Three T1D patients and one healthy control had hypertension (P=0,31). Android obesity was observed in 44.6% of the T1D patients and in 47% of the controls (P=0,731). Low HDLc levels were observed in 36.4% of the T1D patients and in 38.1% of the controls (P=0.839). High triglyceride levels were observed in 13.4% of the T1D patients and in 7.4% of the controls (P=0,247). MS was observed in 14 T1D patients (20.6%) and 6 controls (8.8%) (P=0.053).

Conclusion: The prevalence of MS in the patients with T1D in our study was similar to that found in a recent meta-analysis (19.8% [13.6-26.8%]). However, the metabolic profile of the T1D patients and controls was comparable, suggesting that T1D is not a risk factor for MS and insulin resistance in young adults.