The Impact of Disease Duration on Microcirculatory Dysfunction in Young Patients with Uncomplicated Type 1 Diabetes

This study aimed to evaluate the earliest changes in the structure and function of the peripheral microcirculation using capillaroscopy and transcutaneous oxygen pressure measurement in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus at baseline and during post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) in the function of diabetes duration. Sixty-seven patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), aged 8 to 18 years, and twenty-eight age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were included in the analysis. Diabetic patients were divided into subgroups based on median disease duration. The subgroups differed in chronological age, lipid levels, and thyroid hormones. Capillaroscopy was performed twice: at baseline and then again after the PORH test. Transcutaneous oxygen pressure also was recorded under baseline conditions during and after the PORH test. Comparison of capillaroscopy and transcutaneous oxygen pressure parameters at rest and after the PORH showed no statistically significant difference between the subgroups. This remained true after adjusting for variables that differentiated the two subgroups. However, in the group of patients with long-standing diabetes, significant negative correlations were observed between the Coverage value after the PORH test and capillary reactivity with TcPO₂_zero (biological zero). Significant positive correlations were also found between distance after the PORH test and TcPO₂_zero. The results of our study indicate that in patients with a shorter duration of diabetes, the use of multiple tests provides a better characterization of the structure and function of microcirculation because the onset of dysfunction does not occur at the same time in all the tests.