Double-diabetes in a real-world sample of 2711 individuals: associated with insulin treatment or part of the heterogeneity of type 1 diabetes?

BACKGROUND: Double diabetes (DD) describes both individuals with obesity upon diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and those who have gained weight during follow-up, although cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) are not well understood in this group. We aim to evaluate the frequency of DD in a real-world type 1 diabetes sample and the interaction of insulin treatment with CVRF. METHODS: Multicentre cross-sectional study of 2711 individuals with clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes from secondary diabetes centres in 20 Brazilian cities. RESULTS: Patients with diabetes duration <5 and ≥5 years had similar frequency of overweight (20.4 vs. 25 %) and obesity, (9.8 vs. 6.1 %), p 0.28 for trend. Insulin dose (U/kg/day) was lower in obese individuals compared to normal BMI, with mean (95 % CI) 0.72 (0.62–0.83) vs. 0.88 (0.84–0.92) U/kg/day for diabetes duration <5 years and 0.84 (0.77–0.92) vs. 0.99 (0.97–1.01) U/kg/day for duration ≥5 years. Obese individuals had lower HDL (47.5 vs. 54.4 mg/dL) and higher non-HDL-cholesterol (134.5 vs. 115.2 mg/dL) than lean ones only among those with more than 5 years of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Lower insulin doses in obese individuals point to a role of clinical heterogeneity in insulin deficiency rather than normal progression of type 1 diabetes. Early obesity in type 1 diabetes is associated to lower HDL-cholesterol and higher number of CVRF. These data suggest a broad landscape of pathophysiological phenomena in double diabetes, rather than simple progression of a homogeneous clinical entity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13098-016-0143-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.