Cardiovascular risk factors in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Objective: Cardiovascular disease is a major complication among children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). This prospective study aimed at examining the presence of cardiovascular risk factors in children with T1DM. Methods: We evaluated several cardiovascular risk factors, including atherosclerosis, artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and metabolic responses, in 175 children with T1DM, with 150 non-diabetic children as normal controls. Results: The diabetic children had significantly higher carotid IMT (cIMT) and aortic IMT (aIMT), higher values for diastolic wall stress (DWS), incremental elastic modulus (IEM), and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) than the controls. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), interleukin-4 (IL4), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and leptin were significantly higher in T1DM patients. In T1DM children, the cIMT and aIMT were correlated with several risk factors, including age, weight, body mass index (BMI), duration of diabetes, waist/hip ratio, as well as levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein B (apoB). In addition to common risk factors, cIMT was also associated with systolic blood pressure (BP). Other risk factors, such as height, diastolic BP, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)/high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol ratio, apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) and S-creatinine levels, were not all independent risk factors of cardiovascular disease in T1DM children. Conclusions: T1DM is associated with early impairment of the common carotid and aortic artery structure and function, and the diabetic state may be the main risk factor for arterial wall stiffening and thickening.