Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 23: Diabetes was associated with measurable differences in renal function and electrolyte levels, according to a comparative cross-sectional study involving 300 people.

The study compared 150 patients with diabetes with 150 healthy individuals, examining renal markers such as urea, uric acid and creatinine, along with serum calcium, sodium, potassium and chloride levels. Researchers also assessed the relationship between random blood glucose and the laboratory parameters.

Most demographic characteristics were comparable between the two groups. However, patients with diabetes recorded significantly higher mean creatinine and urea levels than healthy participants.

Mean creatinine was 0.5926±0.2134 in the diabetes group, compared with 0.5463±0.1284 among healthy individuals (p=0.0242). The mean urea level was 25.47±8.986 in patients with diabetes against 22.25±6.639 in the healthy group (p=0.0006).

The findings indicate differences in certain renal markers among people with diabetes, although the absolute differences were relatively small. Researchers cautioned that statistical significance alone does not establish the clinical importance of these changes.

Differences were also recorded in electrolyte levels. Mean potassium was higher among patients with diabetes at 4.707±0.5688, compared with 4.527±0.3470 among healthy participants (p=0.0012).

In contrast, sodium levels were lower in the diabetes group, at 137.4±13.42 compared with 144.1±3.496 in the healthy group (p<0.0001). Calcium levels were also slightly lower among patients with diabetes, at 2.397±0.1456 against 2.441±0.06213 among healthy individuals (p=0.0009).

Pearson correlation analysis found statistically significant associations between random blood glucose and several laboratory measures. Random blood glucose had a weak positive correlation with urea (r=0.1713; p=0.0415) and a weak negative correlation with creatinine (r=-0.1623; p=0.0496).

The strongest reported correlation was a moderate negative association between random blood glucose and sodium (r=-0.3644; p<0.0001).

The researchers stressed that these correlations were modest and should not be interpreted as evidence that changes in blood glucose directly caused the observed renal or electrolyte differences.

Binary logistic regression further identified urea, uric acid, sodium and potassium as factors independently associated with diabetes.

Higher urea was associated with increased odds of diabetes, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.0522 and a 95 per cent confidence interval (CI) of 1.0166–1.0890 (p=0.0038). Higher potassium was similarly associated with diabetes (OR 1.8766; 95 per cent CI 1.0460–3.3667; p=0.0348).

Uric acid showed an inverse association with diabetes (OR 0.6956; 95 per cent CI 0.5441–0.8894; p=0.0038), while sodium was also inversely associated with diabetes (OR 0.9610; 95 per cent CI 0.9382–0.9843; p=0.0011).

Overall, the study found statistically significant differences in selected renal and electrolyte parameters between people with diabetes and healthy individuals. However, because the study was cross-sectional, it cannot establish causality or determine the direction of the observed associations.

The researchers said further longitudinal studies would be required to assess the clinical relevance of these findings and determine whether the identified measures could have a meaningful role in monitoring patients with diabetes.