Influence of puberty on lipids and lipoprotein profile in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

In order to assess whether or not the lipoprotein profile worsens throughout puberty in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and if this change is related to dietary compliance, we studied 46 (20 female, 26 male) children. At the beginning of the study, the mean age (±SD) was 10.9±1.1 years; all the children studied had reached a pubertal stage of P1, G1. The mean duration of diabetes (±SD) was 4.9±1.8 years. The diet and the lipoprotein profile of diabetic children were analysed at the beginning of the study and after 6 years. The quality of metabolic control of subjects studied had not changed significantly at the end of the study (haemoglobin HbA_1c 7.6%±2.1% vs 7.9%±2.0%; NS). After puberty, the diabetic patients received more energy from carbohydrate and less from lipids. Total serum cholesterol and triglycerides and levels of low-density lipoproteins were significantly higher and of high-density lipoproteins lower in the diabetic patients after puberty than before (4.47±0.7 mmol/l vs 5.99±0.6,P<0.01; 0.90±0.02 mmol/l vs 1.45±0.03,P<0.01; 2.2±0.3 mmol/l vs 2.8±0.5,P<0.01; 1.5±0.2 vs 1.1±0.2,P<0.01, respectively). These results suggest a detrimental effect of puberty on lipoproteins; probably, dietary compliance plays a role in this worsening. Dietary education should be intensified during adolescence in order to present these changes.