| Popis: |
This study is based on the hypothesis that endothelins (ETs), which are 21-amino acid peptides with vasoactive and proliferative properties, could be implicated in the development of complications of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in children and adolescents. We determined plasma ET 1-21 concentrations by radioimmunoassay in 59 patients with IDDM (32 male, 27 female) and in 41 healthy siblings (20 male, 21 female) and investigated the association of ET 1-21 concentrations with age, sex, control of diabetes (expressed as % of glycosylated hemoglobin), duration of disease and presence of complications. Plasma ET 1-21 concentrations (mean ± SEM) were 14.12 ± 0.30 pg/ml in IDDM and 15.34 ± 0.47 pg/ml in healthy siblings. The difference was statistically significant (p=0.01) after controlling for age and sex by multiple logistic regression. In the group with IDDM, analysis of covariance showed duration of disease to be the only variable associated with ET 1-21 values (b=-0.2179 pg/ml/yr, p=0.04). It is concluded that in youngsters with IDDM ET plasma concentrations are lower than in healthy controls, negatively associated with duration of the disease and not directly implicated in diabetic angiopathy. © 2006, by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. All rights reserved. |
