Comparison of Inflammatory Markers and White Blood Cell Levels between Diabetic Patients and Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Background and Objective: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease and a global health problem, and the progression of complications of this disease can be prevented by identifying a series of biomarkers. Since white blood cell count, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) are inexpensive and accessible markers for assessing inflammation, the present study was conducted to compare white blood cell, CRP, and ESR between diabetic patients and healthy subjects. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 376 healthy people and 72 diabetic people who were in the second phase of Kerman Coronary Artery Disease Risk Factors Cohort Study (KERCADRS). The collected data included age, sex, weight, height, waist circumference, BMI, duration of diabetes, blood pressure, FBS, HbA1c, TG, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, CRP, ESR, WBC, and creatinine, which were then compared with healthy subjects without underlying disease. Findings: Inflammatory markers ESR and CRP and white blood cells were significantly higher in diabetic subjects compared to healthy subjects. The mean age of diabetic subjects was 57.56±10.03 years. In regression analysis with adjustment for blood pressure, age and BMI, white blood cell count (OR=1.1), lymphocyte count (OR=1.22), neutrophil count (OR=1.07), CRP (OR=1.03) and ESR (OR=1.08) showed a statistically significant association with diabetes (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrated a chronic inflammatory state in diabetic patients compared to healthy subjects, which indicates the need for effective measures to control and treat the disease.

Keywords

• white blood cells
• esr
• crp
• diabetes.