Change and significance of serum ferritin in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with different urine albumin excretion

Objective: To observe the change of serum ferritin in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with different urine albumin excretion. Methods: 59 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 20 healthy control subjects were selected in this study.Patients with diabetes mellitus were subdivided into three groups according to 24 h urine albumin excretion(UAE):normal albuminuria group(NA),micromalbumin- uria group (MA),and clinical albuminuria group (PR).Measurement of serum ferritin was performed by ELISA. Results: The serum ferritin levels of type 2 diabetic groups were higher than those of control group. The serum ferritin levels of MA and PR groups were higher than those of NA group, and that of PR group was higher than that of MA group(P0.05). Correlation analysis demonstrated that serum ferritin was posi- tively correlated with TC,FBG,LDL (P0.01). Conclusion:Serum ferritin level significantly increases in type 2 diabetic patients, and the magnitude of ferritin is related to the severity of diabetic nephropathy. The increase of serum ferritin may involve in the development of diabetic nephropathy.