TITLE:
Iron Depletion Improves Glycemic Control in Poorly Controlled Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Iron Overload and Negative Main HFE-Gene Mutations
AUTHORS:
Adel A. Mahmoud, Adel A. Elazab Elged, Rasha A. Elgamal, Abdelhady M. Hamada
KEYWORDS:
Iron Overload, Poorly Controlled Diabetes, Phlebotomy, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Diabetes Mellitus,
Vol.5 No.3,
July
29,
2015
ABSTRACT: Iron overload increases the risk of diabetes via mechanisms of
abnormal glucose metabolism: insulin deficiency, insulin resistance, and/or
hepatic dysfunction. Iron reduction upregulates glucose uptake and improves
hepatocytes insulin receptor activity. This study was conducted to examine the
effects of iron depletion—via controlled
phlebotomy—on the hypoglycemic treatment in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes
mellitus (T2DM) patients with non-genetic iron overload. Forty three patients
with poorly controlled T2DM and iron overload were divided into 2 groups: iron
depletion group and control group. Regular phlebotomy was performed for iron
depletion group on monthly basis until serum ferritin reached 20 μg/L
or less. Both groups were examined and compared for blood pressure, serum
ferritin, lipid profile, HFE-gene, HbA1c, HOMA-IR and number of medicines used
for diabetic control. The results had revealed that group differences of HbA1c (-2.64, 95% CI -3.23 to 2.04, p -0.68, 95% CI -0.98 to -0.37, p