Objective: Our aim was to determine the relationship between body fat composition, metabolic syndrome (MS), and insulin resistance in type 1 diabetes (DM1).
Subjects and methods: Forty-five DM1 women (36 ± 9 years; body mass index 24.6 ± 4.4 kg/m(2)) had body composition and insulin resistance determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and estimated glucose disposal ratio (eGDR), respectively. Twenty patients (45%) had MS according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
Results: Women with DM1 and MS had increased central fat and lower eGDR than women without MS (41.9 ± 2.0 vs. 33.7 ± 1.8%; p = 0.004 and 4.99 ± 0.40 vs. 8.37 ± 0.39; p < 0.0001, respectively). Total body fat and peripheric fat were similar between the groups. Central fat negatively correlated with eGDR (r = -0.33; p = 0.03).
Conclusion: Central fat deposition in young non-obese DM1 women was related to MS and insulin resistance. Thus, body fat composition analysis might be important to identify DM1 patients with increased metabolic risk.