Improvement of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels. Ambulatory type I diabetics treated with the subcutaneous insulin pump.

Twelve ambulatory patients (six women and six men; mean age, 29 years) with type I diabetes were treated with a continuous subcutaneous open-loop insulin pump in an attempt to effect better glucose control. Hemoglobin A1, mean blood glucose, total cholesterol, total triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and the cholesterol/HDL-C ratio were assessed monthly before and after glucoregulation from five to 14 months (mean, nine months). Mean HDL-C levels increased significantly (52 +/- 4 to 60 +/- 5 mg/dL); mean cholesterol/HDL-C ratios decreased significantly (4.46 +/- 0.43 to 3.89 +/- 0.39). Mean values for triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL-C, all initially normal, did not change. Both mean Hb A1 levels and glucose levels fell from 11.2% +/- 0.5% to 9.8% +/- 0.5% and 177 +/- 15 mg/dL to 128 +/- 12 mg/dL, respectively. Insulin requirements decreased from 0.80 +/- 0.08 to 0.61 +/- 0.05 units/kg/24 hr. These results may favorably alter the prediction for development of accelerated atherosclerosis in type I diabetics.