The effect of blood glucose regulation on the presence of opportunistic Demodex folliculorum mites in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the rate of Demodex folliculorum mite infestation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to investigate if it was related to blood glucose control.


METHODS
Patients with type 2 diabetes were classified according to their glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) level into two groups: a well controlled blood glucose group (HbA(1c) ≤ 7%) and a poorly controlled blood glucose group (HbA(1c) > 7%). A standardized skin surface biopsy method was used to determine if the patients had D. folliculorum infestation (>5 mites/cm² of skin).


RESULTS
A total of 69 patients (38 female) were enrolled in the study. Seventeen (24.6%) patients had D. folliculorum infestation. There were no significant differences in age, sex or body mass index between patients with and without D. folliculorum infestations. A significantly higher proportion of patients with poor blood glucose control had D. folliculorum infestation compared with patients with well controlled blood glucose.


CONCLUSIONS
These current findings suggest that poor blood glucose regulation increases the susceptibility to D. folliculorum mite infestation in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical Faculty, Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey.
Cumali
C
Gökçe
Özlem
Ö
Aycan-Kaya
Erkan
E
Yula
Ihsan
I
Üstün
Erhan
E
Yengil
Fatih
F
Sefil
Hatice
H
Rizaoglu
Bilge
B
Gultepe
Fahri
F
Bayram
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008924:Mite Infestations / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000469:parasitology; D008925:Mites / Q000502:physiology*; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology*
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human
 Demodex mites; Diabetes mellitus; blood glucose regulation