Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence technique reveals remarkable effect of age on microcirculation and metabolic regulation in type 1 diabetes.

STUDY DESCRIPTION:Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) is a novel technique for non-invasive evaluation of the microcirculation and metabolic regulation. This study describes the diagnostic potential of FMSF for type 1 diabetes (DM1). STUDY POPULATION:All study participants, in both the control (n = 31) and DM1 (n = 40) groups, were between the ages of 30-49 y. The patients in the DM1 group had all been suffering from diabetes for at least 10 y. RESULTS:The parameters HRindex, HRmax and MR inversely correlate with age and BMI. An unidentified compensatory effect was observed among the younger members of the DM1 group. The majority of DM1 patients with HRindex < 8% showed signs of dysfunctional metabolic regulation. CONCLUSION:FMSF appears to be an extremely useful technique for monitoring diabetic patients over time, enabling early diagnosis of potentially dysfunctional microcirculation and metabolic regulation.