Impact of Blood Glucose Level on Hematological Indices in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: The severity and complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are the most important preventable health burdens. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of hyperglycemia on hematological indices in patients with T2DM.

Materials and methods: This study was conducted on 300 patients with T2DM, which included group A having controlled diabetes [hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) <7%] and group B having uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c >7%). Information concerning medical history, physical examination, diabetic parameters, hematological indices, and laboratory findings was extracted for interpretation and association between both groups.

Results: About 115 patients (38.33%) had HbA1c <7% and 185 patients (61.67%) had HbA1c >7%. Total leukocyte count (TLC), monocytes, basophils, red cell distribution width (RDW-CV), platelet distribution width (PDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR), plateletcrit (PCT), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were significantly higher among patients with uncontrolled T2DM compared to those with controlled T2DM (p < 0.05), while red blood cells (RBC) count, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) were significantly lower in the uncontrolled diabetic group compared to the controlled diabetic group (p < 0.05). HbA1c had a significant positive correlation coefficient with TLC, neutrophil count, basophil count, PDW, MPV, PCT, PLR, and NLR, while RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit (HCT), and MCV showed significant negative correlation coefficients (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: This study concluded that inflammation, tendency to coagulation, and thrombosis can be detected with easily accessible and inexpensive hematological indices. Therefore, hematological indices can be used as a direct measure to detect the severity of T2DM and its complications.