Diagnostic values and trace element status in prediabetes and diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Summary: Background: There are many undiagnosed cases of pre-diabetes and diabetes worldwide. Having a variety of biomarkers for screening and diagnosing diabetes mellitus has a significant positive impact. Objectives: To investigate whether mineral elements, their ratios, testosterone and ferritin can detect pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: In this study, 120 volunteers were included. The volunteers were divided into three groups (control, pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus). For all volunteers, HbA1c (measured by automated analyses), serum zinc (Zn), serum copper (Cu) (measured by colorimetric method), ferritin, testosterone and serum iron (Fe) (measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay) were measured. Results: The ratio of Zinc/Iron in both pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus is significantly different from those of control group (P-value <0.05). In addition, the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the ratio Zn/Fe can accurately detect pre-diabetes and diabetes (Area under the curve (AUC)= 1 for male pre-diabetic group, 0.8 for female pre-diabetic group, 0.85 for male diabetic and 0.88 for female diabetic group). The level of serum Cu increases in both pre-diabetes and diabetic group. But the elevation is significant only for pre-diabetic group. Conclusion: Zn/Fe can be used as a biomarker for screening and diagnosing pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus.

Keywords

• Mineral elements
• Biomarker
• Diabetes
• Pre-diabetes
• Zn/Fe ratio