Elevated Serum Ferritin Level Is Associated with the Incident Type 2 Diabetes in Healthy Korean Men: A 4 Year Longitudinal Study: e75250

• Published in: PloS one 2013-09, Vol.8 (9)
• Main Authors: Jung, Chang Hee, Lee, Min Jung, Hwang, Jenie Yoonoo, Jang, Jung Eun, Leem, Jaechan, Park, Joong-Yeol, Lee, JungBok, Kim, Hong-Kyu, Lee, Woo Je
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemiluminescence
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075250

Background Elevated ferritin concentration has been implicated in the etiology of type 2 diabetes. Accumulating evidence, mostly from studies conducted on western populations, has demonstrated a strong association between the elevated ferritin concentrations and incident type 2 diabetes. In Asian populations, however, the longitudinal studies investigating the association of elevated serum ferritin levels and type 2 diabetes are lacking. In present study, we aimed to determine whether elevated serum ferritin levels are related to the incident type 2 diabetes in healthy Korean men. Methodology/Principal Findings This 4 year longitudinal observational study was conducted at the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The study population consisted of 2,029 men without type 2 diabetes who underwent routine health examination in 2007 (baseline) and 2011 (follow-up). Baseline serum ferritin concentrations were measured by chemiluminescent two-site sandwich immunoassay. In multiple-adjusted model, the relative risk (RR) for incident type 2 diabetes was significantly higher in highest compared with the lowest ferritin quartile category, even after adjusting for confounding variables including homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (RR = 2.17, 95% confidence interval 1.27-3.72, P for trend = 0.013). Conclusions/Significance These results demonstrated that elevated level of serum ferritin at baseline was associated with incident type 2 diabetes in an Asian population.