Platelet aggregability during the first two years of type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus in children.

Platelet aggregation in response to collagen, adenosine diphosphate and arachidonic acid was studied prospectively in 30 children with Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. The studies began on admission to hospital and continued throughout the two years following diagnosis. The results were compared with those in 44 health control children. Collagen-induced aggregation was significantly decreased in the diabetic children on admission in comparison to the healthy children. In contrast, the aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (1.1 mumols/l, p less than 0.05) and arachidonic acid (0.25 mmol/l, p less than 0.05) was increased on admission. The magnitude of the platelet shape change after adenosine diphosphate stimulation was small at the onset of the disease but was significantly increased towards normal during the two years of follow-up. On admission, the primary wave aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate was positively and significantly correlated to some of the lipoprotein fractions that were disturbed at that time, especially triglycerides in high-density lipoproteins. After two years of treatment the platelet aggregability in the diabetic children had been restored to normal.