Dyslipidemia in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults: the relationship with vitamin D

Background. Among the heterogeneous types of diabetes, latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) attracts the most attention today. Despite the large number of studies on dyslipidemia in diabetes and its relationship with vitamin D deficiency, data on the course of these conditions in patients with LADA are practically absent. The purpose of our study was to determine the characteristics of lipid metabolism in patients with LADA and its phenotypes compared to classical type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) depending on vitamin D status. Materials and methods. We study 56 patients with DM: 34 individuals with LADA and 22 with classical T1DM. They underwent a number of general clinical laboratory tests, study of carbohydrate metabolism, liver function, the blood lipid spectrum, vitamin D status. Results. Analysis of the lipid metabolism indicators in patients with LADA compared to data of patients with classical T1DM showed that dyslipidemia was observed in all experimental groups. In the LADA group, the degree of dyslipidemia according to indicators of lipid metabolism (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), atherogenic index) was higher than in T1DM, which indicates a higher frequency of dyslipidemia in this subtype of autoimmune diabetes in particular and, accordingly, the metabolic syndrome in general. These changes, in our opinion, are caused by the heterogeneous nature of LADA with the involvement of mechanisms of insulin resistance in its development and course. Conclusions. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with lipid metabolism disorders, in particular, with an increase in TG and a decrease in HDL-C, as well as with LADA decompensation, which indicates the need for its normalization in this type of diabetes regardless of the phenotype.