Sex Differences and Glycemic-Control Effects on Routine Hematological Inflammatory Markers in Adolescents with Type 2 Diabetes: A Secondary Analysis

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with low-grade inflammation, and routine complete blood count (CBC) measures may provide accessible indicators of this process. Whether the association between glycemic control and selected hematological markers differs by sex is a clinically relevant question. Objective: To describe sex-related differences in CBC-derived inflammatory markers and assess whether sex modifies the association between glycemic-control status and these markers in adolescents with T2DM.Methods: This secondary analysis uses the summary results reported for 161 adolescents with T2DM attending Al-Zahra General Hospital. Patients were categorized as having controlled HbA1c (<7%; n=69) or uncontrolled HbA1c (≥7%; n=92). The source report included two-way analyses of variance for sex, glycemic-control status, and their interaction. No patient-level dataset was available for re-analysis. Results: The source report found higher mean WBC count, absolute neutrophil count, and NLR in males than females (sex-effect p=0.019, p=0.034, and p=0.016, respectively). The sex effect was not statistically significant for HbA1c (p=0.633) or MLR (p=0.086). Glycemic-control status was associated with all listed hematological markers (reported p<0.001). No sex-by-glycemic-status interaction was statistically significant for the listed outcomes (interaction p-values 0.192–0.673 for the hematological variables shown, and 0.402 for HbA1c).Conclusion: In the reported cohort, some CBC measures differed by sex, while the association between glycemic-control category and hematological markers appeared broadly similar in males and females. These findings are exploratory and do not establish causality or clinical diagnostic utility. Confirmation requires access to patient-level data, full model diagnostics, and external validation.