Increased serum ferritin is associated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein in prediabetes patients: A pilot study

Aims: This pilot study aimed to determine if increased serum ferritin (SF) is associated with cardiovascular risk factors in patients with prediabetes. Methods: Eighteen patients with prediabetes and 36 subjects without prediabetes (control), non-white Hispanic, non-indigenous origin, Mexican mestizo descent were included. Participants had no inflammation, or vascular complications. SF and metabolic markers were evaluated in both groups. Results: SF and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) were increased in prediabetes subjects. Moreover, in prediabetes and control groups as a whole, natural logarithm (ln)-SF correlated with oxLDL and ln-oxLDL/LDL after adjustment for sex, ln-age, ln-fasting plasma glucose (FPG), ln-body mass index, ln-triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and high-density lipoproteins. Finally, ln-SF was an independent contributor to ln-oxLDL/LDL ratio in control and prediabetes subjects (beta = 0.2915) after the introduction of potential confounders such as FPG, TC, TG, and hypertension. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that hyperferritinemia is associated with oxLDL, considered one of the main cardiovascular risk factors, which allows us to suggest that an increase in SF could contribute to the progression of prediabetes, prior to the appearance of diabetes. Further research is required to establish a causal relationship of iron disruption metabolism in oxLDL generation under prediabetes conditions.

Automated summary

This pilot study indicates that increased serum ferritin may be associated with elevated oxLDL in patients with prediabetes, suggesting that elevated ferritin levels could contribute to the progression of prediabetes. Further research is needed to establish a causal relationship between iron disruption metabolism and oxLDL generation in prediabetic conditions.