The evaluation of the insulin dose changes in children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency following replacement therapy

Batuhan Çiftci, Başak Korkmazer, Hilal Özkaya

Keywords: type 1 diabetes mellitus, vitamin d, family practice, insulin doses

Background:
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease in which glucose metabolism is affected by insulin deficiency or ineffectiveness, divided into two groups as Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 DM is frequently seen in the pediatric age group. Recently, it has been shown that vitamin D has effects not only on calcium and bone metabolism, but also on cell differentiation and immunomodulation. Although studies provide evidence that low vitamin D levels are related the prevalence of insulin resistance and DM, data on changes in insulin resistance and the amount of insulin released after vitamin D replacement are limited. Therefore, it is thought that Type 1 DM, which is frequently encountered in primary care, will benefit from a replacement therapy such as vitamin D, whose efficacy and complications can be monitored in primary care.

Research questions:
Can vitamin D replacement reduce the insulin doses required for blood sugar regulation in children diagnosed with Type 1 DM with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency?

Method:
The sample of the study will consist of children aged 2-18 years, who are followed up with the diagnosis of Type 1 DM in the Pediatric Endocrinology Outpatient Clinic of Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital, and who have anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase and/or islet cell autoantibody tests. , low C-peptide levels, low-normal body mass indices, vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, no history of chronic disease affecting vitamin D metabolism or drug use. Insulin doses needed to regulate blood sugar will be checked after three months of vitamin D replacement. In order to evaluate the data obtained in the research, descriptive analyzes, t-test, chi-square and regression analyzes will be performed by accepting the significance level as p<0.05.

Results:
Our research is at the idea stage.

Conclusions:
We aim to analyze effects of vitamin D replacement on Type 1 DM children patients insulin doses.

Points for discussion:
Can measuring the vitamin d levels of children with type 1 DM contribute to reducing the insulin doses of these patients and thus increasing their quality of life?