ESPE Abstracts (2023) 97 RFC5.1

1Diabetes Center, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, First Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, ‘"Aghia Sophia" Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece. 2Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 3Department of Biotechnology, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece. 4Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Athens, Greece


Background and Purpose: Previous studies have shown differences in serum, plasma, or saliva proteomics profile in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), compared with healthy controls. The purpose of this prospective study is to identify the tear proteomics profile in children with T1DM that are followed at the Diabetes Center of the First Department of Pediatrics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, at “Aghia Sophia” Children’s Hospital.

Materials and Methods: Fifty-six children and adolescents with T1DM, with a mean age of 11,5 years, without comorbidities and at least one year after T1DM diagnosis, and fifty-six healthy age- and gender- matched children and adolescents, were enrolled in the study. Tear sampling was performed with Schirmer strips and proteins were isolated from 111 tear samples (one was excluded because of no protein detection). Sample preparation was performed using the SP3 protocol and the tryptic peptides were analyzed by LC-MS/MS using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a Q Exactive HF-X mass spectrometer for the identification and quantification of the tear protein content. The softwares Perseus and Metascape were used for statistics and bioinformatics analyses.

Results: 3302 proteins were identified from all tear samples. Children and adolescents with T1DM showed higher concentrations of immunoglobulins and complement factors and lower expression of proteins S100A8 and S100A9, compared with the control group. Within the T1DM group, differences in protein expression were observed depending on the level of glycemic control. Finally, markers of exosomes were identified in all tear samples.

Conclusions: Tear proteomics profile of children and adolescents with T1DM reveals increased immune response and inflammation processes, even twelve months following T1DM diagnosis compared with the control group. A more exaggerated inflammatory pattern is observed in children with T1DM and bad glycemic control, compared to children with T1DM and good glycemic control. Consequently, tear proteomics could provide biomarkers for early detection of long-term complications in patients with T1DM.

Volume 97

61st Annual ESPE (ESPE 2023)

The Hague, Netherlands
21 Sep 2023 - 23 Sep 2023

European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology 

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