Juvenile diabetes mellitus and serum lipids and lipoprotein levels.

Cholesterol, triglyceride, and lipoprotein levels were determined in serum from 40 children with diabetes and from controls. Mean cholesterol levels in the children with diabetes (205 +/- 78 mg/dl) were statisically higher than for controls (155 +/- 27 mg/dl), as were mean triglyceride levels (120 +/- 63 vs 85 +/- 23 mg/dl). Eight of the children with diabetes had hypercholesterolemia, five had hypertriglyceridemia, and nine had combined hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia. Low-density lipoprotein levels were statistically higher and high-density lipoprotein levels statistically lower for children with diabetes compared with control children. Increased urine glucose spillage was found to correlate with higher serum triglyceride levels, suggesting that the elevated triglyceride levels may have been related to diabetes control. With the known association between hyperlipidemia and coronary heart disease (CHD) and between diabetes and CHD, the results of the present study indicate that all children with juvenile diabetes mellitus should have a serum lipid analysis annually.