Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Modeling and Evaluation of Murine Diabetic Cardiomyopathy Model
Published on: November 29, 2024
Sex differences in cardiovascular disease risk in adolescents with type 1 diabetes
Sowmya Krishnan1, David A Fields, Kenneth C Copeland
1Children's Medical Research Institute Diabetes and Metabolic Research Program, Section of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. sowmya-krishnan@ouhsc.edu
Background:
Cardiovascular disease is seen at a younger age and at a higher prevalence in patients with type 1 diabetes than in the general population. It is well described that women with type 1 diabetes have a higher relative risk of cardiovascular disease than men with type 1 diabetes, unlike that seen in the general population. The pathophysiology behind this is unknown.
Objective:
We performed a cross-sectional study to examine sex differences in cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescents with type 1 diabetes between ages 13 and 20 years, compared with children of a similar age without type 1 diabetes.
Methods:
All patients underwent a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan to measure body composition and a pulse wave test measure of arterial elasticity. Fasting serum lipid levels, apolipoprotein B, and apolipoprotein C-III levels were measured in each patient. Twenty-nine children with type 1 diabetes (10 girls, 19 boys) and 37 healthy children (18 girls, 19 boys) participated.
Results:
Although no sex differences for body mass index (P = 0.91) and glycosylated hemoglobin (P = 0.69) were seen, girls with type 1 diabetes had a significantly higher percent trunk fat compared with boys (P = 0.004). No sex differences were found (P > 0.05) for percent trunk fat in adolescents without diabetes. There was no sex difference among any other cardiovascular risk factors in either children with or without diabetes.
Conclusions:
Female adolescents with type 1 diabetes have more centrally distributed fat, which may contribute to their relatively higher cardiovascular disease risk. Attenuation of the central distribution of fat through exercise and dietary modifications may help ameliorate their subsequent cardiovascular disease burden.
Related Concept Videos
Type I Diabetes II: Pathophysiology
Type II Diabetes I: Introduction
Type I Diabetes I: Introduction
Coronary Artery Disease 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 III: Clinical Manifestations