1Department of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
2Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
3Deptt. of Internal Medicine, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, SFO, US
4Department of TB Chest, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Present studies on the relationship between iron stores and diabetes are mainly done in Western countries. Few studies have been done in Asian populations, with minimal data from the Indian subcontinent. Our purpose was to investigate relationship between serum ferritin & type II diabetes mellitus in a representative Indian population.
The study involved 200 Indian male type II diabetes mellitus patients, aged 35–65 years and age & sex matched 200 healthy controls. All study subjects were evaluated for blood sugar levels & serum ferritin.
Mean age for diabetes patients was 45.70 ± 1.6 years, while that for control group was 44.32 ± 3.9 years. Serum ferritin values were significantly increased in type II diabetic patients compared to the control group (185 ± 3.5 ng/ml & 113 ± 4.6 ng/ml, respectively, p < 0.001.
This study shows a significant association between serum ferritin levels and type II diabetes mellitus in a representative population. Further studies involving a larger sample size are required to investigate the pathophysiological mechanism and consequences of increased serum ferritin levels in these patients.
serum ferritin, diabetes mellitus, blood sugar, iron overload
