[Study of unsaturated plasma lipids in children with diabetes mellitus]

The determination of unsaturation of lipids contained by the blood serum and cell plasma membranes, which depends on the total amount of double bonds (DB) in unsaturated fatty acids is a new and promising method of estimating lipid metabolism in diabetes mellitus. Unsaturation was determined by ozonization. 91 children aged 7 to 15 years were examined. The control group included 10 healthy children of the same age. The standardized values of unsaturation were delimited in the healthy children, which amounted to 260 +/- 20 conventional units. A relationship was discovered between DB and the degree of compensation together with the disease standing. Comparative analysis of blood DB and the lipid spectrum demonstrated that the high values of unsaturation correlate with elevated concentrations of free cholesterol, nonesterified fatty acids, cholesterol esters, pre-beta-LP, beta-LP and triglycerides.