Assessment of TNF-alpha Levels in Pre-Diabetic Patients for Predicting Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Type 2 Diabetes is a prevalent chronic disease with significant health implications, and early identification of individuals at high risk is crucial for effective prevention and management strategies.This study assesses Tumour Necrosis Factoralpha levels in patients with pre-diabetes and determines its effectiveness as a predictive biomarker for the development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Mardan Medical Complex Teaching Hospital, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Patient were divided into three groups: control, pre-diabetic, and diabetic, based on their glycemic status.The Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare Control, Pre-Diabetes, Diabetic, and all study variables, including TNF.TNF's ability to predict pre-diabetics and diabetics was assessed utilizing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and area under the curve calculation.Results: This study included a total of 270 patients.The pre-diabetic patients demonstrated significantly elevated levels of TNF-α (46.62±18.76pg/mL), which were much higher than the control group (13.15±3.55pg/mL).The increase in TNF-α levels was also correlated with other characteristics connected to diabetes, including body mass index (BMI), HBA1c levels, insulin resistance, and lipid profile parameters.The AUC values for the pre-diabetic and diabetic groups were higher, with the pre-diabetic group having a slightly higher AUC of 0.84 than the diabetic group's AUC of 0.81.Conclusion: Increased TNF-alpha levels in pre-diabetics indicate an elevated inflammatory response, potentially crucial in the progression from insulin resistance to overt diabetes.