Serum Interleukin-6 seems to be comparable in patients with type 2 diabetes and those with impaired fasting glucose

Prediabetes is a relatively common medical problem that is supposed to precede the development of diabetes mellitus. Many trials have been performed to predict the transformation of prediabetes into frank diabetes mellitus depending on the alterations in certain biomarkers related to inflammation. The current study aims to estimate serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) in individuals with impaired fasting glucose and compare it to that of patients with new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 159 randomly selected participants who were equally classified according to their history and laboratory findings into healthy control, prediabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus groups. Serum IL-6 was measured in all participants and statistically compared and correlated with body mass index (BMI) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Results: The mean serum IL-6 has shown no significant difference between the control and prediabetes groups while it was significantly higher in the diabetes group compared to both control and prediabetes groups. In addition, a poor correlation has been revealed between serum IL-6 and HbA1c. Conclusion: The absence of a sustained increase in serum IL-6 in the 3 studied groups questions its beneficial role as a predictor of the progression of type 2 diabetes from the prediabetes state.