Dyslipidemia in racially admixtured children with cystic fibrosis

OBJECTIVES: There are few studies reporting lipid profile in cystic fibrosis (CF) and most of them are in adult Caucasians. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the lipid profile of racially admixtured youths with CF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey conducted between August and September 2009 at a reference service for CF, evaluating clinical and laboratory data. RESULTS: Forty-six patients aged from 6 years to 16 years and 2 months (median: 9 years and 10 months; 65.2% males) were evaluated. Of these, 26% were Whites, 54.4% Mulattoes and 19.6% Blacks. There were no diabetics, one patient had glucose intolerance and three had insulin resistance. Pancreatic sufficiency was present in 74% and malnutrition in 26% of the patients. The lipid profile revealed hypertriglyceridemia in 56%, hypercholesterolemia in 17.4% and hypocholesterolemia in 46.5%. In 30.4% of the patients, hypertriglyceridemia and hypocholesterolemia was observed. The serum levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) were low in 56.5% and the low density lipoprotein (LDL) elevated in 15.2% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The lipid profile of this sample of Brazilian racially admixtured patients with CF showed a higher prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia and hypocholesterolemia. There was no association of dyslipidemia with the various racial groups, nutritional status, pancreatic sufficiency or glucose tolerance.