Adenosine deaminase activity in type 2 diabetes mellitus: does it have any role?

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in which glucose is underused, producing hyperglycemia. Diabetic patients are prone to opportunistic infection, thus serum ADA levels in these patients is very important as a screening test for Tuberculosis and autoimmune diseases. Thus, the present study was conducted to estimate the Serum ADA activity, glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting and postprandial glucose level in patients with T2DM and to correlate the serum level of ADA with glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting and postprandial glucose level in T2DM.

This is a Hospital based cross-sectional study done in BPKIHs, Dharan, Nepal. 204 diagnosed patients (102 males and 102 females) with T2DM and 102 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Diabetic patients were categorized into Uncontrolled and Controlled Diabetes on the basis of HbA1C; HbA1c > 7% = Uncontrolled Diabetes, HbA1c < 7% = Controlled Diabetes.

Serum ADA levels (U/L) was significantly raised in Uncontrolled Diabetic patients (49.24 ± 16.89) compared to controlled population (35.74 ± 16.78) and healthy controls (10.55 ± 2.20), p value < 0.001. A significant positive correlation was obtained between Serum ADA and HbA1c, Fasting Plasma Glucose and Post-prandial Glucose respectively.

There is a significant increase in Serum ADA activity in DM with increase in HbA1c levels which may play an important role in predicting the glycemic and immunological status in these patients.