Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) have a higher incidence of metabolic risk factors like hypertension, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis (NASH), abdominal adiposity and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) when compared with their non-diabetic peers. Moreover, metabolic risk factors seem to appear even in T1DM girls without overweight or obesity. We aimed to determine the prevalence of several metabolic risk factors in adolescent T1DM females, according to their nutritional status.

Methods: Girls older than 14 with T1DM for a period longer than 2 years were included. They were divided into two groups according to their body mass index (BMI above or below the 85th percentile). The two groups were compared in what regards the presence of abdominal adiposity, hypertension, lipid profile abnormalities, NASH and PCOS.

Results: 44 adolescents were included: 25 with normal weight and 16 (39%) with obesity or overweight. No difference was found between age (17±1.8 for girls with normal weight vs 17±1.7 for obese and overweight girls; P=0.49) or mean A1c among groups (8.5±1.4 vs 8.5±1.1; P=0.98). Girls with normal weight had a longer duration of T1DM (9±4 vs 7±4; P=0.03). In what regards overweight or obese girls, 23% had abdominal adiposity, 14% hypertension, 21% lipid profile abnormalities, 23% NASH, 23% PCOS and 20% metabolic syndrome. Among normal weight diabetic girls, 6% had abdominal adiposity, 19% hypertension, 5% lipid profile abnormalities, 6% NASH and 6% PCOS. No statistical significant differences were found between the two groups.

Discussion: The prevalence of metabolic risk factors, including NASH and PCOS, was similar of that reported in the published data concerning diabetic young women, although there are few studies in the pediatric population. Even though metabolic syndrome and its components were more prevalent among overweight and obese T1DM girls, they were also present among normal weight diabetic individuals.