Aims We evaluated if type 1 diabetic patients have altered levels of low-grade inflammatory markers including platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) activity, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), white blood cells count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and LDL-cholesterol oxidation coefficient (OxC), and whether their levels are related to clinical complications and the metabolic profile. Methods We studied cross-sectionally 118 outpatients with type 1 diabetes both with (n = 38) and without (n = 80) clinical chronic complications, and 110 controls subjects. Results Diabetic patients had higher levels of PAF-AH activity (p = 0.02), hs-CRP (p = 0.001), WBC (p = 0.004) and ESR (p = 0.0001) than controls. Patients with type 1 diabetes had earlier OxC than the non-diabetic subjects at 1 and 3 h (p = 0.01) after the addition of CuSO4. No difference was noted between patients with and without chronic complications. In the patients, correlations were found between PAF-AH activity and OxC at 1 and 3 h. Conclusions It was concluded that the susceptibility of LDL to in vitro oxidation and low-grade inflammation are increased in patients with type 1 diabetes and related to each other. The presence of these markers is probably independent of the presence of chronic clinical complications and reveals the development of early pro-inflammatory state.
