Diabetes mellitus is a common health problem of the world.
Iron may be a part of the cause of the disease and its complications.
Iron is a
trace element which produces
reactive oxygen species (ROS) participating through Fenton reaction and that ROS may be a cause to produce oxidative stress and further
diabetic complications. The study aims to access the
iron and its effect in producing oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic patients. Serum
iron, total
iron binding capacity (TIBC) and percentage
transferrin saturation are calculated as the index of
iron.
Malondialdehyde (MDA) is estimated as index of
oxidant and
vitamin C,
vitamin E are measured as index of
antioxidants. This is a case control study conducted in the department of Biochemistry in collaboration with department of Medicine at B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan, Nepal. 52 chronic
type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and 52 age and sex matched normal healthy controls were included in the study. Plasma
iron, TIBC, percentage
transferrin saturation were found (89.14±30.50 μg/dL), (266.78±48.80 μg/dL), (36.61±14.31%) in diabetic cases as compared to (83.98±24.19 μg/dL), (279.08±40.23 μg/dL), (31.05±10.98%) of healthy controls. A significant increase in MDA level (6.35±1.52 nmol/ml in cases and 4.18±1.12 nmol/ml in controls, p<0.001) and significant decrease in
vitamin C (0.85±0.19 mg/dL in cases and 1.28±0.21 mg/dL in controls, p<0.001) and
vitamin E (0.85±0.25 mg/dL in cases and 1.34±0.38 mg/dL in controls, p<0.001) were observed.