High serum ferritin levels are associated with insulin resistance but not with impaired glucose tolerance in a healthy people population.
AIM
To assess the association between elevated serum ferritin levels and the presence of insulin resistance (IR) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in a population of individuals with no endocrine or metabolic disorders background.


METHODS
Analytical cross-sectional study, carried out in adults of both sexes with no medical history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or other metabolic or endocrine disorder, who attended the outpatient service of a private clinic in Lima-Peru during 2012-2014 period. Impaired serum ferritin levels were defined as serum ferritin values >300μg/L in men and >200μg/L in women. IR was defined as a Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR) value ≥3.8 and IGT was defined as an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) value between 126mg/dL and 199mg/dL. The reported association measure was the prevalence ratio (PR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).


RESULTS
We analyzed 213 participants, the average age was 35.8±11.1years and 35.7% were males. The prevalence of impaired serum ferritin levels, IR and IGT in the population was 12.7%, 33.3% and 9.9% respectively. In the adjusted Poisson regression models, the prevalence of IR was higher among the group with impaired serum ferritin levels (PR=1.74; 95%CI:1.18-2.56); however, we found no association between impaired serum ferritin levels and IGT (PR=1.42; 95%CI:0.47-4.30).


CONCLUSIONS
Impaired levels of serum ferritin are associated with IR, nevertheless, not with IGT in a metabolically healthy population. Serum ferritin could be considered as an early marker of IR prior to the onset of glycaemia disorders.
['Aguirre|Luis G|LG|', 'Urrunaga-Pastor|Diego|D|', 'Moncada-Mapelli|Enrique|E|', 'Guarnizo-Poma|Mirella|M|', 'Lazaro-Alcantara|Herbert|H|', 'Benites-Zapata|Vicente A|VA|', '|||']
D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D005293:Ferritins D018149:Glucose Intolerance D006801:Humans D007333:Insulin Resistance D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged
Ferritin Insulin resistance Adults Glucose tolerance test