Influence of serum cortisol levels on glycemic control in children with type 1 diabetes.

The association between plasma glucose (pg),hba1c and serum cortisol levels in children with type 1 diabetes was investigated to determine the influence of serum cortisol on their glycemic control. a total of 45 children,aged 10-15 years,with type 1 diabetes for at least 3 years of diabetes were studied. most of them did not have pancreatic beta-cell function. the cortisol levels among all patients were stratified according to fasting plasma glucose levels (50-99,100-199,200-299,& > or = 300 mg/dl),and the hbalc levels (<7.0,7.0-7.9,8.0-8.9,& > or = 9%). the mean fasting pg,hba1c and serum cortisol levels were 174 +/- 97 mg/dl,7.7 +/- 1.3% and 23.04 +/- 16.6 ug/dl,respectively. the cortisol levels were highly correlated with pg levels (r =0.553,p < 0.0001) and mildly correlated with hba1c levels (r=0.301,p=0.0192). patients with high pg levels gave significantly higher cortisol levels as compared to those with lower pg levels (18.4 +/- 7.3,26.8 +/- 18.3,31.4 +/- 17.0 & 36.3 +/- 17.2ug/dl,p=0.0009). there were no significant differences in serum cortisol levels among patients stratified according to hba1c levels (p=0.1566),however,patients with hba1c levels > or = 9% had significantly higher cortisol levels than those with hba1c levels<7% (32.6 +/- 14.4 vs. 21.8 +/- 11.3ug/dl,p=0.0291).