Prevalence of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in an admixed population of patients with type 1 diabetes. Lessons from a pioneer multicentre study in Brazil.

AIMS: To evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) and its associated factors in Brazilian patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). METHODS: This cross-sectional, multicentre study was conducted in 14 public clinics in ten Brazilian cities. From 1760 patients, 1712 were included (97.3 %): 953 females (55.7 %), 930 (54.3 %) Caucasians, aged 29.9 ±11.9 years and with diabetes duration of 15.4 ± 9.2 years. CAN was evaluated using cardiovascular autonomic reflex tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of CAN was 23.4 %. Multivariable hierarchical logistic regression showed CAN associated with age, smoking, lower socioeconomic status, higher yearly medical appointments, insulin therapeutic regimens, higher levels of HbA1c, total cholesterol, uric acid, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate, presence of retinopathy, diabetic kidney disease and a tendency to be associated with severe hypoglycemia. Lower health-related quality of life was also found in univariate analysis in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with T1D presented an important prevalence of CAN that was associated with other diabetes-related chronic complications, and also with demographic, clinical and laboratorial traditional risk factors. Considering lack of formal policy, our data could be used for guiding public health approach to awareness and CAN's screening, diagnosis and clinical management in patients with T1D in Brazil.

Prevalence of autoimmune diseases in an admixed population of patients with type 1 diabetes: a multicenter study in Brazil.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of autoimmune diseases (AIDs) and its associated factors in an admixed Brazilian population of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). The secondary one was to determine the relationship between AIDs and the occurrence of diabetes-related chronic complications (DRCC). METHODS: This cross-sectional, nationwide survey was conducted in 13 public clinics in 11 Brazilian cities. Overall, 1,760 patients were included; 967 females (55.9%), 932 (54%) Caucasians, aged 29.9 ± 11.9 years, age at diagnosis 14.8 ± 8.9 years, diabetes duration 15.5 ± 9.3 years and 12.2 ± 3.8 years of school attendance. AIDs were retrieved from medical records or self-report and stratified as follows: absence of AIDs, only autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), and other AIDs including the combination with AITD (hyper or hypothyroidism). RESULTS: The prevalence of AIDs was 19.5% being AITDs (16.1%), the most frequently found. A higher prevalence of hypertension, dyslipidemia and overweight or obesity was found in patients who had exclusively AITDs. A higher prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) was observed in patients with AITDs and patients with other AIDs in combination with AITDs. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was more prevalent in patients with only AITDs. Lower levels of HbA1C, were observed in patients with isolated AITDs or with other AIDs, regardless of the presence of AITD. Hierarchical multivariate analysis, showed that AIDs were associated with female gender, older age, and longer diabetes duration, self-reported color-race (White and Brown), geographic region (Brazilian North/Northeast region) and higher anti-TPO levels (≥ 35 UI/ml). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, Brazilian patients with T1D, belonging to a highly ethnically admixed population, had an important prevalence of AIDs, mostly AITDs, that was associated with female gender, self-reported color-race, older age and longer diabetes duration. Moreover, these patients also had a higher prevalence of DRCC. Even though we highlight the importance of investigating the presence of AIDs at diagnosis and at regular intervals, it is unclear whether screening and early detection of additional AIDs may improve the clinical outcomes in individuals with T1D. Future prospective studies are necessary to establish the interplay between T1D, AIDs and DRCC.