Plasma Lipids in Patients With Type I Diabetes Mellitus: Influence of Race, Gender, and Plasma Glucose Control: Lipids Do Not Correlate With Glucose Control in Black Women

Plasma lipids and hemoglobin A₁ were measured in 544 type I diabetic patients. Hemoglobin A₁ was positively correlated with the levels of total plasma cholesterol, total triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and negatively correlated with the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the entire biracial group. These relationships between plasma lipids and hemoglobin A₁ were not present in black women. In the white diabetic population a reduction in hemoglobin A₁ of one percentage point was statistically associated with a decrease of 0.16 to 0.17 mmol/L in total plasma cholesterol, a decrease of 0.10 to 0.13 mmol/L in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and a reduction of 0.12 to 0.14 mmol/L in triglycerides. These findings suggest that race and gender are important determinants of the response of plasma lipids to glucose control in type I diabetes mellitus.