Oxidative stress and adhesion molecules in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a possible link

Objective: To examine whether oxidative stress parameters were correlated with adhesion molecules derived from endothelial/platelet activation in a group of juveniles with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Subjects and methods: Indicative parameters of patient oxidant/antioxidant capacity were measured and associated with P‐selectin and tetranectin (TN), markers of endothelial/platelet activation, in the plasma of 45 diabetic children and adolescents and 20 healthy age‐matched subjects (HS). Results: Significantly, higher nitrate/nitrite (NOx) and lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) levels (p = 0.049 and p = 0.0011, respectively), lower glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx; p = 0.038), and elevated TN and P‐selectin plasma levels (p = 0.0046 and p = 0.042, respectively) were found in T1DM children compared with HS. Well‐controlled T1DM children (HbA1c ≤ 7%) showed significantly lower GPx (p = 0.0259), higher NOx and LPO (p = 0.01093 and p = 0.0092, respectively) compared with HS, while poorly controlled patients (HbA1c > 7%) showed significantly higher TN, sP‐selectin and LPO (p = 0.0064, p = 0.0234 and p = 0.0121, respectively), a tendency to higher NOx (p = 0.063) compared with HS and only TN higher (p = 0.0123) compared with well‐controlled patients. Patients with shorter diabetes duration (≤3 yr) showed significantly higher LPO and TN (p = 0.034 and 0.017, respectively), a tendency to higher NOx and lower GPx and higher P‐selectin, while those with longer duration (>3 yr) differed significantly in all the examined parameters (TN, p = 0.0015; GPx, p = 0.0420; NOx, p = 0.0196; LPO, p = 0.0054; sP‐selectin, p = 0.0187) compared with HS. Conclusions: Decreased antioxidative protection from simultaneous LPO and NOx overproduction is evident in T1DM juveniles with a parallel endothelial/platelet activation even in the first years of the disease, being more pronounced later in diabetes progression, contributing to the vascular complications of the disease.