Enhanced RBC Aggregation in Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Background This study aimed to investigate the relationship between HbA 1c and RBC aggregation in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients by analysis of data from routine clinical tests and from in vitro experiments. Methods A total of 2,111 inpatients with type 2 diabetes were selected and among them, 364 patients (Group A) had limited influence of plasma proteins on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and was compared with the rest of the 1,747 inpatients (Group B). ESR, HbA 1c , WBC, CRP, Fbg, and HCT were measured in all samples. Sixty samples were also collected from T2DM patients and used for in vitro ESR studies. Spearman's correlation coefficients were employed to reflect the correlation between ESR and other parameters. Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare the study parameters. Results The test results for Group A were lower than Group B with respect to ESR, age, HCT, HbA 1c , CRP, WBC, and Fbg. Only the difference in HbA 1c , CRP, and Fbg values had statistical significance ( P < 0.05). In addition, HbA 1c correlated better with ESR for Group A ( R = 0.622) than Group B ( R = 0.563), whereas CRP and Fbg were contrary to this. In the in vitro studies, the HbA 1c values were classified into the subgroups of 6.5–8.0%, 8.1–10%, and >10%. The corresponding ESR values were 28 ± 5.1 mm/h, 33 ± 2.7 mm/h, and 40 ± 4.1 mm/h, respectively. Conclusion ESR results of T2DM patients were elevated that was mainly caused by Fbg levels, and in addition HbA 1c in part contributed to RBC aggregation.