Korean J Pediatr.  2005 Nov;48(11):1239-1243.

Serum Ferritin as a Risk Factor in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

• Kim JH
• Kim HS
• Kim DH

Abstract

PURPOSE
Iron accumulation interferes with hepatic insulin extraction and affects insulin synthesis and secretion. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between serum ferritin and type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: We compared the serum ferritin level among 18 patients in an impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) group, 36 in a type 1 diabetes group, eight in a type 2 diabetes group and 29 in a healthy control group. The correlation between serum ferritin levels and sex, body mass indices (BMI), blood pressure (BP), serum fasting sugar level and serum fasting insulin level were also analyzed. RESULTS: The mean log ferritin were 1.33+/-0.32 (healthy control group), 1.63+/-0.19 (IGT group) and 1.90+/-0.30 (type 2 diabetes group). In the IGT group, log ferritin was higher than in the healthy control group (P=0.001). The log ferritin of the type 2 diabetes group was higher than that of the healthy control group (P=0.001). Comparing log ferritin to other factors, log ferritin had a significant positive correlation with body mass indices (P< 0.001), systolic blood pressure (P=0.001), and fasting glucose (P= 0.001), fasting insulin (P=0.002). CONCLUSION: Compared to the normal healthy group, serum ferritin concentrations were significantly higher in the IGT group and the type 2 diabetes group. The elevation of serum ferritin concentration may be a risk factor of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Keyword

Serum ferritin; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Insulin resistance syndrome

MeSH Terms

Risk Factors