COMPARISON OF IRON STATUS AND INSULIN RESISTANCE BETWEEN NON-DIABETIC OFFSPRINGS OF TYPE 2 DIABETICS AND NON-DIABETICS

Background: insulin resistance is positively correlated with body iron. it is unclear whether iron is a cause or an outcome of insulin resistance. insulin resistance precedes type 2 diabetes mellitus. offspring of type 2 diabetics are insulin resistant as compared to those of the non-diabetics. the present study was designed to compare and correlate insulin resistance with iron parameters (including serum ferritin,transferrin saturation and blood haemoglobin) in non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetics and non-diabetic offspring of non-diabetics.methods: it was a cross-sectional study,conducted on one hundred and twenty male subjects 20-40 years of age. they were divided into two groups,each group having 60 subjects. group a included non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetics,while group b included non-diabetic offspring of non-diabetics. fasting blood sample was taken and examined for glucose,haemoglobin,insulin,iron,tibc and ferritin. data was analysed by spss-17.results: insulin resistance and iron parameters were significantly higher (p<0.05) in non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetics as compared to those of the non-diabetics. there was significant positive correlation (p=0.027) between insulin resistance and serum iron in non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetics. there was also significant positive correlation between insulin resistance and serum iron,transferrin saturation and haemoglobin in non-diabetic offspring of non-diabetics.conclusion: non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetics have iron load and insulin resistance,that predispose them to the development of type 2 diabetes.