Pre-pubertal onset of type 1 diabetes and appearance of retinopathy

Effect of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 on Diabetic Retinopathy in Pubertal Age Patients With Type 1 Diabetes

PURPOSE

The aims of this study were to correlate diabetic retinopathy (DR) changes with insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in patients with type 1 diabetes of pubertal age group and to correlate the level of retinopathy with IGF-1 levels.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was done over 2 years and involved patients with type 1 diabetes of age 8 to 25 years. Patients presenting to Ophthalmology OPD and inpatient department along with active recruitment from old pediatrics and endocrinology records were taken for the study. Fasting serum IGF-1 was calculated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Fasting blood sugar levels were taken. Detailed ophthalmic examination was done and DR was noted in all the patients and correlated with IGF-1 levels.

RESULTS

A total of 46 patients with type 1 diabetes were recruited into the study. The mean age of the patients was 14.33 ± 4.36 years, with a female-to-male ratio of 3:2. No relationship of IGF-1 with age of onset of diabetes (P = 0.7) or fasting capillary blood glucose (CBG) (P = 0.6) was found, but a significant relationship was found with duration of diabetes (P = 0.001) and low IGF-1 levels (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Severity of DR in patients with type 1 diabetes is inversely related to serum IGF-1 levels. Low IGF levels are an indicator for closer follow-up and strict management of diabetes and retinopathy.

Impact of Age of Onset, Puberty, and Glycemic Control Followed From Diagnosis on Incidence of Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes: The VISS Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate sex, age at diabetes onset, puberty, and HbA_1c, with subjects followed from diabetes diagnosis and during different time periods, as risk factors for developing diabetic simplex and proliferative retinopathy.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

In a population-based observational study, HbA_1c for 451 patients diagnosed with diabetes before 35 years of age during 1983-1987 in southeast Sweden was followed for up to 18-24 years from diagnosis. Long-term mean weighted HbA_1c (wHbA_1c) was calculated. Retinopathy was evaluated by fundus photography and analyzed in relation to wHbA_1c levels.

RESULTS

Lower wHbA_1c, diabetes onset ≤5 years of age, and diabetes onset before puberty, but not sex, were associated with longer time to appearance of simplex retinopathy. Proliferative retinopathy was associated only with wHbA_1c. The time to first appearance of any retinopathy decreased with increasing wHbA_1c. Lower wHbA_1c after ≤5 years' diabetes duration was associated with later onset of simplex retinopathy but not proliferative retinopathy. With time, most patients developed simplex retinopathy, except for those of the category wHbA_1c ≤50 mmol/mol (6.7%), for which 20 of 36 patients were without any retinopathy at the end of the follow-up in contrast to none of 49 with wHbA_1c >80 mmol/mol (9.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

Onset at ≤5 years of age and lower wHbA_1c the first 5 years after diagnosis are associated with longer duration before development of simplex retinopathy. There is a strong positive association between long-term mean HbA_1c measured from diagnosis and up to 20 years and appearance of both simplex and proliferative retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes patients in Western Norway

PURPOSE

To describe the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), associated risk factors and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a population-based cohort of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1).

METHODS

All patients underwent a general and ophthalmic examination including seven-field stereo fundus photography for grading of DR and diabetic macular oedema (DMO). Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were performed to evaluate disease progression in relation to diabetes duration, age and year of diabetes onset. HRQoL and its association with DR were assessed by the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 237 DM1 patients were included. Mean age at inclusion was 34 years (range, 4-75 years), and mean diabetes duration was 19 years (range, 5 months-63 years). A total of 145 patients (61%) had DR. Sixty-two patients (26%) had mild, 39 (16%) moderate and 13 (5%) severe nonproliferative DR, while 31 (13%) had proliferative DR. The prevalence of DMO was 8%. The most important risk factors predicting severity of DR were diabetes duration (p < 0.0001) and HbA1c level (p < 0.0001). Neuropathy (p = 0.006), nephropathy (p = 0.004) and male gender (p = 0.02) were also significant predictors of DR. Compared to normative SF-36 data, there was a linear trend of decreasing HRQoL with increasing severity of DR that was statistically significant for the four physical dimension scores.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of DR in DM1 was largely within the range of previous reports. Diabetes duration, HbA1c level, neuropathy, nephropathy and male gender were all significant predictors of DR severity. The patients with more severe DR had lower HRQoL.

Impact of HbA1c, followed from onset of type 1 diabetes, on the development of severe retinopathy and nephropathy: the VISS Study (Vascular Diabetic Complications in Southeast Sweden)

OBJECTIVE

HbA1c is strongly related to the development of diabetes complications, but it is still controversial which HbA1c level to strive for in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The aim of the current study was to evaluate HbA1c, followed from diagnosis, as a predictor of severe microvascular complications and to formulate HbA1c target levels for treatment.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A longitudinal observation study followed an unselected population of 451 patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during 1983-1987 before the age of 35 years in a region of Southeast Sweden. Retinopathy was evaluated by fundus photography and nephropathy data collected from medical records. HbA1c was measured starting from diagnosis and during the whole follow-up period of 20-24 years. Long-term weighted mean HbA1c was then calculated. Complications were analyzed in relation to HbA1c levels.

RESULTS

The incidence of proliferative retinopathy and persistent macroalbuminuria increased sharply and occurred earlier with increasing long-term mean HbA1c. None of the 451 patients developed proliferative retinopathy or persistent macroalbuminuria below long-term weighted mean HbA1c 7.6% (60 mmol/mol); 51% of the patients with long-term mean HbA1c above 9.5% (80 mmol/mol) developed proliferative retinopathy and 23% persistent macroalbuminuria.

CONCLUSIONS

Long-term weighted mean HbA1c, measured from diagnosis, is closely associated with the development of severe complications in type 1 diabetes. Keeping HbA1c below 7.6% (60 mmol/mol) as a treatment target seems to prevent proliferative retinopathy and persistent macroalbuminuria for up to 20 years.

Prevalence of retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes diagnosed before and after puberty

AIMS

There is conflicting evidence to support the concept that the years with diabetes preceding puberty may not contribute to the development of vascular complications. In this paper, duration-related prevalence of retinopathy was compared in patients who developed type 1 diabetes before and after pubertal age.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 1,483 patients was screened for retinopathy in 1991-2010, with diabetes onset at age ≤29, who were on insulin treatment and aged ≤60. Prepubertal age was defined as 0-12 in males and 0-11 in females.

RESULTS

A total of 647 patients had developed diabetes before and 836 after puberty. Cumulative prevalence of retinopathy was initially lower among those with prepubertal onset diabetes but rates became superimposable after 20-year duration. Patients with prepubertal onset diabetes had higher lifetime HbA1c and lower blood pressure than those who became diabetic after puberty.

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION

Retinopathy is infrequent during childhood and develops later than in patients with post-pubertal onset diabetes. After 20-year duration, however, retinopathy becomes just as prevalent suggesting that, in the long term, prepubertal years do contribute to the development of retinopathy. In this series, higher blood pressure may have played a role in the earlier appearance of retinopathy in patients with diabetes onset after puberty, whereas worse metabolic control may have contributed to the late "catch-up" effect in those with prepubertal onset disease.

Estimating the delay between onset and diagnosis of type 2 diabetes from the time course of retinopathy prevalence

OBJECTIVE

By correlating known diabetes duration with the prevalence of retinopathy, more than 10 years have been estimated to lapse between the onset and diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Such calculations, however, assumed a linear model, included stages of retinopathy not specific to diabetes, and allowed 5 years for retinopathy to occur after the onset of diabetes. We calculated the duration of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes in outpatients screened for retinopathy in a hospital-based diabetes clinic after correcting these assumptions.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Diabetic patients (n = 12,074; 35,545 fundus examinations) were stratified into younger onset (YO; age at onset <30 years) or older onset (OO; age at onset ≥30 years), insulin treated (IT) or not IT (NIT), and with mild/more severe diabetic retinopathy (AnyDR) or moderate/more severe diabetic retinopathy (ModDR). The best-fitting equation correlating known duration among the OO-NIT group with the prevalence of ModDR was used to extrapolate time from appearance of retinopathy to diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Time for retinopathy to develop after diabetes was calculated from the equation correlating the duration among the YO-IT group with appearance of ModDR.

RESULTS

There were 1,719 patients in the OO-NIT group with AnyDR and 685 with ModDR and 756 in the YO-IT group with AnyDR and 385 with ModDR. A linear model showed ModDR appeared 2.66 years before diagnosis among those in the OO-NIT group. A quadratic model suggested that ModDR appeared 3.29 years after diagnosis among those in the YO-IT group. The resulting estimate was 6.05 years (2.66 + 3.29) between the onset and diagnosis of diabetes, compared with 13.36 years using standard criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

Using best-fitting models and stratifying by glucose-lowering treatment and severity of retinopathy substantially lowers the estimated duration of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Infant and toddler type 1 diabetes: complications after 20 years' duration

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effect of the prepubertal duration of diabetes on the occurrence of complications in two groups of patients after the same number of years of the disease.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

This multicenter study enrolled 105 patients aged 16-40.3 years; 53 were prepubertal at diagnosis (aged 0-3) and 52 were pubertal (Tanner stage) and aged 9-14.9. The mean duration of disease was 19.8 and 19.5 years for prepubertal and pubertal patients, respectively. In all patients, retinal photographs were taken and centrally graded. Urinary albumin excretion (UAE; 86 case subjects), blood pressure (BP; 89 case subjects), and lifetime HbA(1c) (72 case subjects) were also evaluated.

RESULTS

The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) was higher in pubertal than in prepubertal patients, both for any grade DR (71 vs. 40%, P = 0.002) and for mild or more severe DR (P = 0.005). The prevalence of abnormal UAE was not different in the two groups. Hypertension was found only in three patients, all pubertal at diagnosis. In the small group with moderate-to-severe DR, lifetime HbA(1c) levels, as percentages above the upper normal reference value, were higher (P < 0.01) in prepubertal than in pubertal patients.

CONCLUSIONS

If diabetes is diagnosed in infants or toddlers and the prepubertal duration of diabetes is very long, the patients seem to be protected against DR. This protection disappears if lifetime metabolic control is bad. Instead, when onset is at puberty, the DR risk is higher and less dependent on metabolic control and may be influenced by age-related factors, such as BP.

Doppler ultrasonography imaging of hemodynamic alteration of retrobulbar circulation in type 1 diabetic children and adolescents without retinopathy

AIM

We aimed to investigate the retrobulbar blood circulation using Colour Doppler Imaging (CDI) in type 1 diabetic children and adolescents who had no diabetic retinopathy and to compare the results with their healthy peers.

METHODS

Forty-nine patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus with no retinopathy on fundoscopic examination were included in the study. Forty-nine healthy children were defined as the control group. Central retinal artery (CRA), ophthalmic artery (OA) and posterior ciliary artery (PCA) were examined with Doppler US bilaterally. Peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV) and resistive indices (RI) for each artery were recorded.

RESULTS

Blood flow velocity of the OA was significantly different in diabetic patients (p<0.05). EDV of the OA was significantly higher (p=0.011) and RI was significantly lower (p=0.027) in patients with diabetes duration of longer than 5 years. RI of the CRA was significantly higher in patients who had higher microalbuminuria levels (p=0.016).

CONCLUSION

EDV of the OA increases and RI of the OA decreases in diabetes duration longer 5 years. Raised AER increases RI of the CRA. These findings may be the initial changes in the arterial circulation before vascular rigidity develops.

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in children and adolescents with type-1 diabetes attending summer camps in France

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate, using fundus photography, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in young diabetic subjects attending summer camps run by the Aide aux Jeunes Diabétiques Association (Aid to Young Diabetics).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Five hundred and four children and adolescents (250 boys and 254 girls), with type 1 diabetes mellitus, aged 10-18 years (mean:13+/-2), were screened for DR using non mydriatic photography, during their stay in a holiday camp. Demographic and clinical data recorded on subjects' arrival in the camp included date of birth, height, weight, treatment, blood pressure, and duration of diabetes. HbA(1c) was determined with a DCA 2000 kit.

RESULTS

Mean diabetes duration was 4.8+/-3.4 years and mean HbA(1c) was 8.5+/-1.3%. Mild non proliferative DR was diagnosed in 23 children (4.6%). Compared to subjects without DR, those with DR were significantly older (P<10(-3)), had a longer duration of diabetes (P=0.001), higher systolic blood pressure (P=0.04), and had higher (but not significantly so) HbA(1c) (P=0.15). After adjustment for age, only longer duration remained significantly associated with DR (P=0.01).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of DR in these young patients was low compared to that reported in previous studies. The decrease may be due to modern diabetes care with multiple insulin injections. However, early detection of DR in adolescents, especially in their late teens, remains important, because it allows the identification of patients at high risk of progression towards severe stages of DR.