The effect of a high fat meal on heart rate variability and arterial stiffness in adolescents with or without type 1 diabetes

Aim: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with increased arterial stiffness and cardiac autonomic neuropathy. We tested whether those variables are acutely affected by a high fat meal (HFM). Methods: Responses to a HFM were measured in adolescents with T1D (N = 14) or without T1D (Control, N = 21). Heart rate variability (HRV), arterial stiffness, blood pressure (BP), and energy expenditure (EE) were measured before (baseline) and four times over 180 min postprandially. Results: T1D had higher blood glucose and insulin, but the suppression of fatty acids (~40%) and rise in triglycerides (~60%) were similar between groups. T1D had 9% higher EE, but postprandial increase in EE was similar to Controls. T1D had ~7 to 24% lower baseline HRV but a similar postprandial decline of ~8 to 25% as Controls. Both groups had a similar 2 to 5% increase in BP after the meal. Rate pressure product increased postprandially in both groups and was higher in T1D. Pulsewave velocity and augmentation index did not differ between groups or change postprandially. Conclusion: Adolescents with T1D have evidence of cardiac autonomic dysfunction and increased EE, but those variables, along with arterial stiffness, are not acutely made worse by a HFM.