Prevalence and prediction of prediabetes among apparently healthy Iraqis from Baghdad

This study sought to determine the prevalence of prediabetes and to evaluate the significance of six biomarkers, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), C-peptide, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-13, and IL-35, in predicting prediabetes.

A cross-sectional, case-control study was performed to determine the prevalence of prediabetes among 735 healthy Iraqis. Besides, 125 prediabetes patients, 30 newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) cases, and 30 normoglycemic controls were assessed for the six biomarkers.

Among the 735 Iraqis, the prevalence of prediabetes was 17%. Most prediabetes patients were over the age of 40 and were overweight/obese. Median levels of the six biomarkers were significantly elevated in the serum of prediabetes and DM patients compared to the normoglycemic group. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that C-peptide scored the highest area under the curve (AUC) in prediabetes (0.913), while in DM, hsCRP scored the highest AUC (0.961). Logistic regression analysis showed that only hsCRP, C-peptide, IL-1β and IL-13 were associated with prediabetes risk, whereas in DM, the six biomarkers were associated with disease risk.

Prevalence of prediabetes among healthy Iraqis was 17%. Prediabetes was associated with ages over 40 and overweight/obesity. Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were up-regulated in serum of prediabetes patients.