Body iron stores are associated with serum insulin and blood glucose concentrations. Population study in 1,013 eastern Finnish men.

Tuomainen, T P; Nyyssönen, K; Salonen, R; Tervahauta, A; Korpela, H; Lakka, T; Kaplan, G A; Salonen, J T · Diabetes Care · 1997

cross_sectional · Level IV

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Abstract

To study if there is an association between mildly elevated body iron and glucose homeostasis indexes. A cross-sectional population study was conducted in 1,013 middle-aged men, and an association of serum ferritin with concentrations of serum insulin, blood glucose, and serum fructosamine was tested. The mean concentration of fasting serum insulin was 21.6% higher (95% CI 7.3-37.9%, P < 0.001) in the 5th quintile of serum ferritin compared with the 1st quintile. The elevation in blood glucose was 6.1% (95% CI 2.3-9.9%, P < 0.001) and in serum fructosamine 3.9% (1.5-6.9%, P < 0.01). Mildly elevated body iron stores are associated with statistically significant elevations in glucose homeostasis indexes.

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