Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic autoimmune disease characterised by autoimmune- mediated destruction of beta cells in the pancreas, leading to insulin deficiency and consequent lifelong replacement therapy. Adequate metabolic control is crucial to prevent acute and chronic complications and may be affected by the presence of insulin resistance, especially in overweight individuals.
Recent studies have shown that elevated plasma concentrations of liver enzymes such as aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, typically used to assess liver function, may also reflect metabolic dysregulation. Therefore, the aim of our study was to analyse the associations between plasma concentrations of liver enzymes, indicators of metabolic control (glycated hemoglobin A1c, average blood glucose concentration) and parameters of insulin therapy (total daily insulin dose, basal insulin requirement per kilogram of body weight), and to study the impact of body weight and the comorbidity of autoimmune diseases (celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid disease) on these variables. The study included 167 young people with type 1 diabetes mellitus, aged 10 to 21 years, treated at the Department of Paediatrics, University Medical Centre Ljubljana between 2010 and 2024. Among the participants were 61,1 % boys and 38,9 % girls. The mean age of the subjects was 16,2 ± 2,7 years, the mean duration of disease at inclusion was 8,2 ± 4,4 years, the mean body weight was 64,4 ± 13,6 kg, the mean body height 170,2 ± 10,2 cm and the mean calculated body mass index was 22,1 ± 3,6.
We found that a higher body mass index was associated with higher glycated hemoglobin A1c values and a higher insulin need. Plasma concentrations of liver enzymes were not associated with indicators of metabolic control or parameters of insulin therapy, but nevertheless showed a positive association with markers of systemic inflammation (high sensitivity C-reactive protein). The presence of associated autoimmune diseases did not affect the observed variables, however, trends indicated a possible impact of untreated celiac disease on lower glycated hemoglobin A1c values and lower insulin requirements, and an impact of thyroid disorders on higher insulin requirements.
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