Statins in Children With Type 1 Diabetes and Hypercholesterolemia
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-11-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Children with type1 diabetes (T1DM) have increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) due
to chronic increase in the blood sugars and inflammation. If there is also increased in
cholesterol, it creates a highly abnormal environment not fully corrected by improved control
of the blood sugars. CVD remains the principal risk of mortality in T1DM, and its prevention
and treatment, compelling in children. This grant proposal encompasses 3 separate, yet
interrelated projects addressing different aspects of CVD risk in children with T1DM. Project
#1: a randomized controlled trial on the safety and efficacy of a class of drugs called
"statins", which lower bad cholesterol in the body, in children with diabetes and elevated
bad cholesterol. We will measure changes in concentration of blood inflammatory markers and
for the 1st time, correlate levels of these markers with changes in blood sugar as measured
by continuous glucose sensors, instruments that measure the blood sugar continuously through
a small needle under the skin. Project #2: is a laboratory study to investigate the genetics
and concentration of key molecules that participate in the inflammatory cascade and
atheromatous plaque formation that causes CVD. Expression levels in children with T1DM will
be compared with those in healthy controls for the 1st time. Project #3: examines the use of
abdominal aortic MRI to measure damage to the arteries in children with T1DM and healthy
age-matched controls. The results of these studies will likely provide important new data on
the use of statins in children with diabetes.