Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is an important health problem worldwide affecting about 8 percent of population. The present study was conducted to assess correlation of serum ferritin with HbA1c in type 2 diabetic patients.
Materials & Methods: 74 type II diabetes patients of both genders were put in group I and age matched control in group II. Parameters such as Hb%, Ferritin, hemoglobin, HbA1c and fasting plasma sugar were measured in blood samples. The blood sugar was measured after 12 hours of fasting by glucose oxidase method.
Results: Out of 74 patients, males were 44 and females were 30. The mean BMI in group I was 27.3 kg/m² and in group II was 27.1 kg/m². FPG was 7.4 mmol/L in group I and 5.8 mmol/L in group II. The mean HbA1c level was 8.7% in group I and 5.2% in group II. The mean S. ferritin level in group I was 198.3 µgm/L in group I and 64.8 µgm/L in group II. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). There were 28 subjects with HbA1c level <6% and serum ferritin level <150 µgm/L and 9 subjects with >15 µgm/L. There were 13 subjects with HbA1c level >6.1% with serum ferritin level <150 µgm/L and 24 with serum ferritin level >150 µgm/L. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). OR of 11.7in subjects with higher serum ferritin level are in 11.7 times at risk to develop type II DM thanthose with lower serum ferritin level.
Conclusion: There was significant increase in serum ferritin in diabetes mellitus compared to control group. Positive correlation between HbA1c and serum ferritin has also been found.