Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Accelerated Type 1 Diabetes Induction in Mice by Adoptive Transfer of Diabetogenic CD4+ T Cells
Published on: May 6, 2013
Cholesterol absorption and synthesis in children with type 1 diabetes
Mikko Järvisalo1, Olli Raitakari, Helena Gylling
1Centre for Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Objective:
The levels of the surrogate markers of cholesterol absorption (cholestanol and plant sterols) and synthesis (cholesterol precursors) in serum have suggested that in adult type 1 diabetes, cholesterol absorption is high and synthesis is low compared with type 2 diabetic or control subjects. Accordingly, these findings were further studied in children with type 1 diabetes.
Research Design And Methods:
Forty-eight children with diabetes were compared with 79 age- and sex-matched control subjects. The serum ratios of cholesterol absorption and synthesis markers were measured with gas-liquid chromatography. The study population was divided into triads (combining the two lowest triads) by serum cholestanol ratios of the control subjects indicating low to high cholesterol absorption efficiency.
Results:
The ratios of the absorption and synthesis markers were similar in case and control subjects, and they were negatively related to each other in control subjects, being less consistent in diabetic patients. Thus, high cholesterol absorption was associated with low synthesis. Plant sterol ratios increased significantly with increasing cholestanol triads in both groups, but the values in the lowest triads were higher in case versus control subjects.
Conclusions:
Homeostasis between cholesterol absorption and synthesis is maintained in control children and somewhat less consistently in those with diabetes. The higher plant sterol ratios in diabetic versus control subjects in the lowest cholestanol triads suggest that cholesterol absorption is higher in children with diabetes versus control subjects but only within the range of low cholesterol absorption.
Related Concept Videos
Type I Diabetes I: Introduction
Diabetes Mellitus: Overview and Type I Subtype
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. As a result, the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin, and individuals with...
Type I Diabetes II: Pathophysiology
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2 and Gestational
Lipid Absorption
These breakdown products bind with bile salts and lecithin to form micelles, which quickly pass between microvilli to come in close contact with the apical...
Type II Diabetes II: Pathophysiology