Plasma Transthyretin Levels and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Impaired Glucose Regulation in a Chinese Population

Plasma transthyretin may be engaged in glucose regulation. We aimed to investigate the association between plasma transthyretin levels and the risk of newly diagnosed T2DM and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) in a Chinese population. We conducted a case-control study including 1244 newly diagnosed T2DM patients, 837 newly diagnosed IGR patients, and 1244 individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) matched by sex and age. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was utilized to estimate the independent association of plasma transthyretin concentrations with the risk of T2DM and IGR. Plasma transthyretin concentrations were significantly higher in T2DM and IGR patients compared with control subjects (p < 0.005). After multiple adjustment and comparison with the lowest quartile of plasma transthyretin concentrations, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of T2DM and IGR in the highest quartile were 2.22 (1.66, 2.98) and 2.29 (1.72, 3.05), respectively. Plasma transthyretin concentrations also showed a great performance in predicting the risk of T2DM (AUC: 0.76). Moreover, a potential nonlinear trend was observed. Our results demonstrated that higher plasma transthyretin concentrations, especially more than 290 mg/L, were associated with an increased risk of T2DM and IGR. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings and elucidate the potential mechanisms.