Glycated hemoglobin, dyslipidemia and risk of atherosclerosis in type 1 diabetic patients

The aim of this study was to determine whether the dyslipidemia was associated with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and to study the relationship of dyslipidemia and glycated hemoglobin with atherosclerosis as well as the gender difference in dyslipidemia. Twenty five clinically diagnosed type 1 diabetic children and adolescents in the age group of 7-18 years and 25 age and sex matched healthy children and adolescents constituted the study population. HbA1c was positively associated with total triglycerides, LDL, VLDL and HDL in diabetic cases as compared with controls. The gender differences were studied using chi-square test which showed that females were more prone to changes in lipid profiles as related to HbA1c levels. It was concluded that type 1 diabetes mellitus patients were at increased risk of premature atherosclerosis due to associated dyslipidemia that could be due to higher levels of glycated hemoglobin. Lower HDL levels, a possible risk of atherosclerosis showed inverse association with HbA1c levels, implying that elevated glycated hemoglobin was associated with multi-fold risk of atherosclerosis. Females were at increased risk of atherosclerosis than males because of higher prevalence of dyslipidemia among them.