Boinapalli Sudhakar and Shah Rita M
Background: Raised serum ferritin levels are associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, prediabetic stage, metabolic syndrome (Mets) and cardiovascular risk. The association between Serum ferritin and HbA1c levels with individual components of metabolic syndrome and obesity are unclear. Objectives: The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between serum ferritin levels, fasting Blood glucose levels, waist Hip ratio, fasting insulin levels, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), and lipid profile in previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, newly diagnosed patients, impaired fasting glucose subjects and healthy subjects and relationship among iron stores, the metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance in premenopausal women, postmenopausal women and men. Subjects and methods: 1058 participants included in this study out of them 365 patients with previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus having poor glycemic control and good glycemic control, 144 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, 189 participants with impaired fasting glucose levels and 360 healthy participants. Fasting blood glucose, Serum ferritin, serum insulin, HbA1c waist hip ratio, and lipid parameters were estimated and Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Results: Dichotomizing ferritin concentration in to <300 and >300 ng/ml for men and <150 and >150 ng/ml for women, the odd ratios for newly diagnosed diabetes were 4.94 (95% CI 3.05-8.01) for men 3.61 (2.01-6.48) for women. All multiple linear regression coefficients between ferritin concentration and concentration of insulin, glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin were positive and significant for men and postmenopausal women. Conclusion: On basis of present studies results, it is concluded that hyperferritinaemia and iron overload may be the primary cause of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome before overt type 2 diabetes mellitus.