Introduction
Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been traditionally linked to type 2 diabetes, it is also the most important cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with type 1 diabetes.1 Data from large epidemiologic studies worldwide indicate that the incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing by 2%–5% worldwide,2 and coronary disease is 2–10 times more prevalent among patients with type 1 diabetes compared with non-diabetic subjects.3
Some reports conclude that glycemic control measures obtained using glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) could point to a primary risk factor for atherosclerosis in type 1 diabetes.4 5 However, even though the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial found that higher levels of HbA1c were associated with microvascular and macrovascular complications, hyperglycemia does not fully explain the elevated risk of CVD.5 6 Data on the relationship between HbA1c and cardiovascular complications are weak, as large clinical trials and epidemiological cohort studies in adults have had conflicting results. In addition, long-term studies in children are lacking.3 As a result, the study of additional markers that could play a role in the elevated cardiovascular risk and in the inflammatory process and endothelial dysfunction observed in early childhood merits further investigation.4 6 Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between acute hypoglycemia and indexes of systemic inflammation.1 7 These studies suggest that hyperglycemia as well as acute hypoglycemia produces complex vascular effects involved in the activation of proinflammatory mechanisms in type 1 diabetes.1 3
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a well-known independent inflammation marker involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This protein is increased in patients with coronary artery disease.6 8 Furthermore, because of its precision, accuracy, and standardization, hsCRP is considered one of the best inflammation markers in clinical practice.9
Changes in weight can modify hsCRP concentrations in children with type 1 diabetes, and these changes have important implications for clinical practice.4 hsCRP is considered an important link between atherosclerosis, CVD, and insulin resistance.8 10 Several studies have identified higher levels of hsCRP as a risk factor for cardiovascular events in children with obesity,11 adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes,8 12–14 and for the progression of diabetes complications.15 16
Despite this evidence, hsCRP has been poorly studied in children with type 1 diabetes. In addition, most studies in adults have included patients with potentially confounding factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, smoking, and diabetes complications, and as a result the extent to which hsCRP is associated with CVD risk factors in children and adolescents has yet to be elucidated.1 8
Taking into account the scarce data available on hsCRP in the pediatric population with type 1 diabetes, our main objective in this study is to compare hsCRP levels in children with type 1 diabetes against a control group of healthy children and another group made up of children with obesity. In designing this study, we hypothesized that HbA1c, as marker of metabolic control of type 1 diabetes, would be related to hsCRP levels.