Iron metabolism parameters and inflammatory status in patients with diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia
Authors: Musina Nadezhda N. , Saprina Tatiana V. , Prokhorenko Tatiana S. , Zima Anastasia P. 
Published: December 2020

Background:Investigating the inflammatory status and iron metabolism in patients with impaired carbohydrate metabolism seems quite relevant, while only few studies are devoted to the relationship between metabolic parameters, including lipid profile, inflammatory status indicators and the state of ferrokinetics in diabetes mellitus types 1 and 2 in a comparative aspect.

Aims: To establish the direction of changes in the inflammatory status and the state of ferrokinetics in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus depending on lipid metabolism disorders.

Materials and methods: The study included 48 patients with type 1 diabetes, 81 patients with type 2 diabetes; 11 people with obesity without impaired carbohydrate metabolism made up the comparison group, 17 healthy volunteers - the control group. Low-grade inflammation was assessed by the levels of high-sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosisfactor-а (TNF-а), ferritin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The state of iron metabolism was evaluated by the main hematological parameters (hemoglobin, red blood cell count, hematocrit), serum iron concentrations, transferrin, ferritin and hepcidin concentrations. In all patients lipid metabolism parameters, glycated hemoglobin, and microalbuminuria were measured.

Results:Patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus had significantly higher inflammatory markers concentrations-TNF-а, ESR, and CRP - in relation to obese patients without impaired carbohydrate metabolism and those in the control group. The highest production of TNF-а was observed in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (15.28 [12.41-24.41] pg/ml), whereas CRP (7.00 [3.00-11.85] ng/ml) and ESR (18.00 [9.00-27.00] mm/h) were higher in patients with type 2 diabetes. In the structure of the examined individuals with diabetes mellitus (regardless of its type), dyslipidemia type IIb in comparison with less atherogenic type IIa dyslipidemia was characterized by a higher production of CRP (6.9 [3.00-12.35] and 3.00 [1.80-8.70] ng/ml, respectively), ESR (20.00 [10.00-30.00] and 15.00 [5.00-24.50] mm/h, respectively) and ferritin (114.80 [48.90-196.45] and 50.90 [19.58-114.10] ng/ml, respectively). Compared to iron deficiency anemia, anemia of chronic diseases in diabetes mellitus patients was more often accompanied by dyslipidemia llb (χ2=2.743; p=0.098) and was characterized by a higher content of atherogenic fractions of cholesterol.

Conclusions: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a more atherogenic dyslipidemia profile (type IIb) have a phenotype of the local inflammatory mesenchymal reaction of the liver with an increase in acute-phase proteins predominantly of hepatic origin (CRP, ferritin), whereas individuals suffering from type 1 diabetes and less atherogenic lipid profile (type IIa) have a phenotype of an autoimmune, genetically determined inflammatory response. It has been established that anemia of chronic diseases developing in the background of diabetes mellitus is associated with a more atherogenic lipid profile, compared with iron deficiency anemia.