Role of chemerin in the metabolic regulation of type 1 diabetes in children

Introduction and objective: Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, leading to the development of chronic micro- and macrovascular complications. Recently, many researchers have been focusing their efforts on identifying new markers for the progression of this disease. It is known that adipokines play a significant role in the regulation of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of serum chemerin in children with type 1 diabetes and assess their correlation with body mass index, glycated haemoglobin, and lipid profile. Materials and methods: The study group included 40 children with newly diagnosed, 40 with long-term diabetes, and 14 children without diabetes as a control group. Chemerin levels were measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: We did not find any statistically differences in chemerin levels in the studied groups of children. In the group of patients with long-term, metabolically well-controlled diabetes, chemerin levels were higher in girls than in boys (p = 0.028). Moreover, no difference in chemerin levels was observed between the studied groups of children depending on the body mass index percentiles. A negative correlation was found between chemerin level and age in children with newly diagnosed diabetes and metabolically well-controlled diabetes. Conclusions: Our study provides new insights into the status of chemerin among paediatric patients with varying degrees of type 1 diabetes control. However, further research is needed involving larger groups of patients with differing degrees of sexual maturation and with the presence of microvascular complications.