Myostatin serum levels in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) can cause several complications, among them myopathy, which can appear even in adolescents. This is of importance, since skeletal muscle is the largest of the insulin-sensitive tissues and thus plays a significant role in glucose homeostasis. A prime regulator of skeletal muscle mass is myostatin, a protein which has a negative role in skeletal muscle development but also in glucose homeostasis, causing insulin resistance. Since myopathy is a complication of T1DM and myostatin is a fundamental regulator of skeletal muscle and is also involved in glucose homeostasis, we investigated the serum levels of myostatin in children with T1DM. We determined myostatin serum levels using ELISA in 87 children with T1DM aged 10.62 ± 3.94years, and in 75 healthy children aged 10.46 ± 3.32years old. Myοstatin was significantly elevated in T1DM compared to the healthy control children (23.60 ± 7.70 vs 16.74 ± 6.95ng/ml, p < 0.0001). Myostatin was not correlated with body mass index (BMI) SD or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Children with T1DM have significantly higher serum levels of myostatin compared to healthy children of the same age and BMI SD. The elevated myostatin in T1DM could reflect impaired muscle function and/or glucose metabolism, or could represent a homeostatic mechanism.