Aim: Elevated serum ferritin has been found to be closely related to type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to explore the relationship of high serum ferritin to metabolism and chronic complications in type 2 diabetes.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 330 type 2 diabetes patients who visited an endocrine clinic were included for the analysis. Serum ferritin and metabolic parameters were recorded. The prevalence of chronic diabetic complications was evaluated. Based on serum ferritin, participants were divided into hyperferritinemia and normal-ferritin groups. Metabolic parameters and prevalence of chronic diabetic complications were compared. The relationship between hyperferritinemia and chronic diabetic complications was explored with multivariate logistic regression models. Data were statistically analyzed by sex.
Results: Compared with the normal-ferritin group, the hyperferritinemia group showed higher levels of the serum inflammatory marker CRP and higher prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and coronary heart disease (CHD), regardless of sex (p < 0.05). Moreover, male patients with hyperferritinemia had increased serum triglyceride, alanine transferase, γ-glutamyltranspeptidase, urea nitrogen, creatinine, and uric acid and higher prevalence of microalbuminuria (p < 0.01). After controlling for demographics and metabolic profiles, hyperferritinemia remained an independent risk factor of DR (male OR 3.957, 95% CI 1.559– 10.041, p =0.004; female OR 2.474, 95% CI 1.127– 5.430, p =0.024) and CHD (male OR 2.607, 95% CI 1.087– 6.257, p =0.032; female OR 2.293, 95% CI 1.031– 5.096, p =0.042).
Conclusion: This study found that hyperferritinemia was associated with increased CRP and higher prevalence of DR and CHD in type 2 diabetes. In men, high serum ferritin was also associated with dyslipidemia, hepatic dysfunction, and microalbuminuria.
Keywords: diabetes mellitus, type 2, ferritin, metabolism, chronic complication