Dyslipidemia Among Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Case-Control Study From a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India

Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic endocrine disease characterized by impaired glucose metabolism. Type 2 DM (T2DM) is an age-related disease that usually affects middle and older-aged people who suffer from increased blood glucose activities. Several complications are associated with uncontrolled diabetes that include abnormal lipid levels/dyslipidemia. This may predispose T2DM patients to life-threatening cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the activities of lipids among T2DM patients. Methodology A case-control study involving 300 participants was conducted in the outpatient department of medicine attached to Mahavir Institute of Medical Sciences, Vikarabad, Telangana, India. The study included 150 T2DM patients and the same number of age-matched controls. In this study, 5 mL of fasting blood sugar (FBS) was collected from each participant for the estimation of lipids (total cholesterol (TC), triacylglyceride (TAG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C)) and glucose. Results The FBS levels among T2DM patients (211.6 ± 60.97 mg/dL) and non-diabetic individuals (87.34 ± 13.06 mg/dL) were significantly (p < 0001) different. Analysis of lipid chemistry that included TC (174.8 ± 38.28 mg/dL vs. 157.22 ± 30.34 mg/dL), TAG (173.14 ± 83.48 mg/dL vs. 133.94 ± 39.69 mg/dL), HDL-C (37.28 ± 7.84 mg/dL vs. 43.4 ± 10.82 mg/dL), LDL-C (113.44 ± 28.79 mg/dL vs. 96.72 ± 21.53 mg/dL), and VLDL-C (34.58 ± 19.02 mg/dL vs. 26.7 ± 8.61 mg/dL) revealed significant variations among T2DM and non-diabetic individuals. There was a 14.10% decrease in the activities of HDL-C among T2DM patients along with an increase in the activities of TC (11.18%), TAG (29.27%), LDL-C (17.29%), and VLDL-C (30%). Conclusions T2DM patients have demonstrated abnormal lipid activities/dyslipidemia compared to non-diabetic patients. Patients with dyslipidemia may be predisposed to cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, regular monitoring of such patients for dyslipidemia is extremely vital to minimize the long-term complications associated with T2DM.