Men with hyperferritinemia and diabetes in the Mediterranean area do not have a higher iron overload than those without diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the role of iron overload in type 2 diabetic men with hyperferritinemia.


METHODS
150 men were recruited from a genetic screening programme for hereditary hemocromatosis (HH) and were tested for type 2 diabetes, other components of the metabolic syndrome, beta cell function (BCF), insulin sensitivity, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and iron overload.


RESULTS
Fifty-one men had type 2 diabetes. They were older (p=0.017) and 99 had lower BCF (p<0.001) than non-diabetic men. None of the iron overload indexes was associated with diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings dispute a role of iron overload in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.
Hospital of Sabadell, Corporació Sanitària i Institut Universitari Parc Taulí (UAB), Sabadell, Spain. nuriafreixenet@hotmail.com
Núria
N
Freixenet
Carme
C
Vilardell
Gemma
G
Llauradó
Olga
O
Giménez-Palop
Eugenio
E
Berlanga
Cristina
C
Gutiérrez
Assumpta
A
Caixàs
Joan
J
Vendrell
José Miguel
JM
González-Clemente
D000368:Aged; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D005293:Ferritins