Analysis of serum ferritin levels in non-diabetic, prediabetic and diabetic individuals

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by impaired insulin secretion, insulin resistance or both. In the initial asymptomatic phase there is hyperinsulinemia, as insulin resistance progress and beta cell function deteriorates ‘Prediabetes' an intermediate hyperglycemic state prone for diabetic complications ensues. A chronic sub-clinical inflammation is associated with insulin resistance and it can be assessed using a pro-inflammatory marker like serum ferritin. Aim: We intend to evaluate serum ferritin levels in normoglycemics, intermediate hyper glycemics and overt cases of T2DM and also to investigate if any correlation exists between blood glucose and serum ferritin levels at these three different stages of glycemia. Materials and Methods: In accordance with World health organisation guidelines, we inducted forty seven pre-diabetics and thirty seven T2DM patients in the first and second groups of our study respectively. Twenty three healthy controls constituted the third group. Serum ferritin, fasting and 2 hour postprandial blood glucose were estimated in all subjects. Results: The mean ± SD of Log serum ferritin levels in prediabetic, diabetic group and Controls groups are 4.21±0.96, 4.25±1.07 and 3.59±0.95µg/L respectively. Mean Log serum ferritin levels is significantly higher in pre-diabetics and diabetics with p=0.012. A positive and statistically significant association was noticed between serum ferritin and blood glucose levels when the subjects of the three groups were considered together (p=0.036) but not when the groups were considered separately. Conclusion: Serum ferritin levels are elevated in prediabetes and T2DM when compared to healthy controls and it reflects the inflammation associated with prediabetes and T2DM.