[Erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport in diabetic children: 12 months development and relationship with familial hypertension].

It has been suggested that an increased erythrocyte Na-Li countertransport (Na-Li CNT) rate in patients with IDDM is associated to the risk of developing diabetic nephropathy. Little is known, however, about the possible influence of metabolic control on Na-Li CNT at the onset of IDDM and during the remission phase and its relationship with some clinical and metabolic parameters. Twelve insulin-dependent diabetic children (6 males, 6 females; mean age 10±0.6 years) were studied at the onset and 1, 4, 12 months after the diagnosis; 6 of them had a family history of hypertension