Aim: The aim of the study was to assess markers of anemia in type 1 diabetes (T1D) children, compare them to results obtained in the control group, and estimate their relation to BMI SDS.
Methods: 94 (59% ♀) T1D children without other autoimmune disorders, aged 12.5 ± 4.1 years, T1D duration: 4.2 ± 3.6 years, HbA1c 7.3 ± 1.5% (57 ± 12.6 mmol/mol). Sex- and age-matched controls (43 children). In all children, anthropometric measurements, the blood count, iron turnover parameters, and vitamin B12 concentration were taken.
Results: T1DM children had significantly higher red cell distribution width (RDW) (13.6 versus 12.6%; p < 0.001), hepcidin (0.25 versus 0.12 ng/ml; p < 0.001), and vitamin B12 concentrations (459 versus 397 pg/ml; p < 0.01) and lower TIBC (59.09 versus 68.15 μmol/l; p < 0.001) than in the control group. Logistic regression revealed that RDW, TIBC (both p < 0.001), and hepcidin (p < 0.05) significantly differentiated both groups. In T1DM children, BMI SDS negatively correlated with vitamin B12 (p < 0.01) concentration and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (p < 0.05) and positively with TIBC (p < 0.01) and HbA1c (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Patients and controls differed especially in terms of RDW and TIBC. In studied T1DM children, BMI SDS was associated to iron metabolism parameters and vitamin B12 concentration.