Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases in children. Precise knowledge of the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus type 1 and its chronic complications is the enormous challenge in modern diabetology. In recent years, the role of leptin in the pathogenesis of microvascular diabetic complications has been highlighted.

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate serum leptin level and correlations between leptin levels and clinical and biochemical parameters in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Materials and methods: The study included 110 patients with diabetes type 1, lasting 6.05±3.25 years, aged 14.37±3.13 years from Clinic of Pediatrics, Diabetology and Endocrinology, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland and 50 matched controls. Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus were divided in two subgroups with and without late diabetic complications (albuminuria and ophtalmological changes). In all included to the study children: HbA1c, C-reactive protein, lipid profile, albuminuria and serum leptin level with enzyme immunoassay were performed.

Results: Statistically significant differences in serum leptin level, among patients with long-term type 1 diabetes mellitus (7.63±8.41 ng/ml) and group of healthy children (9.58±6.61 ng/ml) were shown with the highest level in control group (P=0.04). In patients with symptoms of late diabetic complications were reported significantly higher levels of leptin (9.88±8.74 ng/ml) compared with patients with DM1 who have no signs of diabetic nephropathy or retinopathy (7.15±7.91 ng/ml) (P=0.03). In addition, in patients with long-term type 1 diabetes mellitus significant positive correlations between leptin level and C-reactive protein level (R=0.21; P=0.02) was shown.

Conclusion: Increasing serum leptin level in children with long-standing DM1 and its positive correlation with C-reactive protein suggests a growing body inflammatory reaction in these patients and may predispose them to the development of diabetic microangiopathy.