Influence of ferritin levels and inflammatory markers on HbA1c in the Type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a significant public health issue worldwide due to the associated comorbidities. Recent studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between blood glucose levels and serum ferritin levels in patients with type 2 DM. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between Ferritin Levels and Inflammatory Markers on HbA1c in the Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients. METHODS: This single-center, cross-sectional, controlled study included patients who were admitted to the Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders outpatient clinics of the Private Kütahya Hospital in the province of Kutahya in the Western Turkey. The study included a total of 172 patients, 84 of whom had type 2 DM and 88 without diabetes and constituted the control group. A total of 190 patients with DM were admitted to the Adult Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Outpatient Clinics of the hospital between July 1, 2018 and September 1, 2018, and among these, the study was conducted on 172 volunteer patients who met the study inclusion criteria and who did not have any missing data. The HbA1c levels, serum ferritin, hemoglobin (Hb), insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), lipid profiles, and uric acid levels were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The serum ferritin levels of the patients with type 2 DM significantly increased with increasing HbA1c levels (p<0.01). A strong positive correlation was found between serum ferritin levels and HbA1c and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study results show a significant relationship between HbA1c levels and serum ferritin and CRP levels, suggesting that serum ferritin and CRP levels can be used as a routine screening tool for the early diagnosis of DM. However, further large-scale, prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.