Serum Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 Concentrations Associate With Diabetes Status but Not Arterial Stiffness in Children With Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between circulating markers of inflammation and arterial stiffness in children with type 1 diabetes is not well studied. We tested whether inflammatory monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 concentrations correlate with arterial stiffness or type 1 diabetes status. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: MCP-1 concentrations and radial tonometry data were available for 98 children with type 1 diabetes and 55 healthy control subjects. Arterial stiffness was calculated as augmentation index corrected for a heart rate of 75 (AI75). Correlation between MCP-1 and AI75 and differences in MCP-1 concentrations between case and control subjects were tested. RESULTS: MCP-1 was significantly higher in children with type 1 diabetes than in control subjects (P < 0.001). However, there were no correlations between MCP-1 and AI75 in the overall sample or upon stratification by type 1 diabetes status (range P = 0.28–0.66). CONCLUSIONS: Circulating MCP-1 was not associated with arterial stiffness but was significantly elevated in children with type 1 diabetes, indicating a proinflammatory state in children as young as 10 years. The clinical significance of MCP-1 elevation in type 1 diabetes needs further investigation.