Background/Aims: Visfatin is a recently discovered adipokine, and its circulating concentrations have not been adequately studied in type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). Therefore, this study was designed to examine plasma visfatin levels in type 1 diabetic patients and to determine the relationships between visfatin and duration of diabetes, body mass index, glycemic control, insulin dosage and lipid profile. Methods: Forty-eight patients with type 1 DM and 26 healthy controls were investigated. Results: Type 1 diabetic patients had significantly low visfatin levels compared with controls (18.8 ± 1.7 vs. 20.2 ± 0.3 ng/ml; p < 0.0001). Visfatin levels were comparable between patients with a short duration of diabetes (<10 years) and patients with a long duration of diabetes (≥10 years) (18.9 ± 1.7 vs. 18.2 ± 2.0 ng/ml; p > 0.05). There was a significant correlation between visfatin and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) even after the adjustment for age, sex, body mass index and duration of diabetes (r = –0.48, p = 0.005) in the patient group. Multivariate analysis showed that significant determinants of visfatin concentrations were HbA1c and duration of diabetes (r2 = 0.27). Conclusion: These data emphasize that plasma visfatin concentrations are lower in patients with type 1 DM and related to glycemic control reflected by HbA1c.

Keywords:
Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Visfatin, Hemoglobin A1c, Lipids, Diabetes duration
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© 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel
2009
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