Effects of Type 1 diabetes mellitus disease on iron metabolism and hepcidin level abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship between iron metabolism, hepcidin, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients with better and poor metabolic control. Materials and Methods: The study included 30 T1DM patients with poor metabolic control (HbA1c value >7.5%), 30 T1DM patients with better metabolic control (HbA1c value ≤7.5%), and 30 healthy controls who were of similar age and gender. Routine, hemogram, biochemical tests, iron, transferrin, and ferritin levels were evaluated. Results: The hepcidin level of the poor metabolic patient group (519.52±114.58) was significantly higher than the control group (431.94±124.05). The ferritin level of the poor metabolic patient group (52.10±36.53) was significantly higher than that of the better metabolic patient group (35.13±36.18) and the control group (28.63±18.08). Positive relationships were found between HbA1c and hepcidin and ferritin. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, hepcidin was at the threshold value of 445.20 and had 61.7% sensitivity and 56.0% specificity in diagnosing T1DM. Conclusion: Hepcidin and ferritin levels have been shown to increase in T1DM patients and both show a positive correlation with HbA1c. Hepcidin may be a promising marker contributing to the follow-up and diagnosis of T1DM.