Body iron stores are associated with serum insulin and blood glucose concentrations. Population study in 1,013 eastern Finnish men.
OBJECTIVE
To study if there is an association between mildly elevated body iron and glucose homeostasis indexes.


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
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).


CONCLUSIONS
Mildly elevated body iron stores are associated with statistically significant elevations in glucose homeostasis indexes.
Tuomainen
T P
TP
Research Institute of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Finland.
Nyyssönen
K
K
Salonen
R
R
Tervahauta
A
A
Korpela
H
H
Lakka
T
T
Kaplan
G A
GA
Salonen
J T
JT
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000209:etiology; D005215:Fasting; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D005387:Finland; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019270:Fructosamine / Q000097:blood; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D019270:Fructosamine; D005293:Ferritins