serum ferritin concentrations in an impaired fasting glucose population and their normal control group

some recent studies have revealed the relationship among excess ferritin, coronary heart disease, and insulin resistance. to assess the association between serum ferritin concentration and impaired fasting glucose, this study was designed. a total of 187 people including 91 impaired fasting glucose (ifg) subjects and 96 normal glucose subjects who had been recognized in a large epidemiological study in zanjan in 2001 were enrolled. the cohorts were well matched for age, sex and bmi. body mass index and blood pressure of the participants were measured and serum cholesterol, triglyceride and ferritin were evaluated. all the data were analyzed by t-test, x² test and analysis of variance. serum ferritin was higher in the ifg cohort (85.5 ± 6.6 µg/l vs. 49.4 ± 3.7 µg/l, p = 0.001). a positive correlation was found between fasting plasma glucose and serum ferritin in this study (r: 0.29, p: 0.001). using multiple regression analysis, we found an association between serum ferritin and bmi (0.06, p: 0.4), blood pressure (0.15, p = 0.01), fpg (0.29, p = 0.001), triglyceride (0.08, p = 0.01) and cholesterol (0.07, p = 0.03). the odd's ratio for the association of ifg in male subjects with the high serum ferritin level was 8.3 (ci 95%:1.211.9, p = 0.01) and for females was 3.06 (c.i 95%: 0.58-15, p: 0.1). our study, implying that hyperferritinemia occurs before elevation of plasma glucose concentration more than 126 mg/dl. if prospective and interventional studies confirm an etiologic role of iron overload in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, reduced dietary iron intake, especially in men with additional risk factors for type 2 diabetes, would appear to be a logical consequence.