Serum ferritin in healthy subjects and type 2 diabetic patients

In order to study the relationship between the serum ferritin level and the components of the insulin resistance syndrome in type 2 diabetic patients, we evaluated fifty type 2 diabetic patients who were selected according to NDDG/WHO criteria from those patients attending Korea University Hospital from 1997 to 1998. Twenty-five healthy non-diabetic subjects of comparable age and sex distribution acted as a control group. The results showed that the value of log ferritin was higher in the type 2 diabetes patients than the control subjects, but not at a statistically significant level (p = 0.09). Log ferritin was correlated with fasting blood sugar level (r = 0.235, p = 0.048) and body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.285, p = 0.05). In the type 2 diabetic patients, log ferritin was correlated with fasting C-peptide (r = 0.478, p = 0.009). In the control subjects, log ferritin was correlated only with BMI (r = 0.477, p = 0.012). In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, the diabetic group showed a significant correlation between fasting C-peptide and log ferritin (p = 0.001). In the control group, the fasting sugar level was significantly correlated with log ferritin (p = 0.034). These results suggest that serum ferritin can be employed as a marker of not only glucose homeostasis but also insulin resistance both in type 2 diabetic and control subjects.