Plasma Iron Linked With Mortality in Diabetes After MI

Plasma iron appears to be a powerful predictor of mortality.

Labile plasma iron (LPI) is elevated in many diabetics presenting with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and appears to be a powerful predictor of mortality. Lad investigator Dr. Andrew P. Levy said that, "This study would suggest that the labile free iron pool may play an important role in the increased morbidity and mortality of diabetic individuals suffering from acute MI,"

Dr. Levy of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa and colleagues note that LPI is "associated with reactive oxygen species formation and increased oxidative stress."

The researchers found that 43 (13.5%) of 322 non-diabetic acute MI patients had significant LPI. This was true of 116 (35.5%) of 329 acute MI patients with diabetes.

In total, 64 (9.8%) of patients died during the 30-day study period. The unadjusted mortality rate was 2.5 times higher in the diabetic patients.

After adjustment for factors such as age and sex, elevated LPI was still an independent predictor of mortality in the diabetic cohort. Moreover, diabetics without elevated LPI had a mortality rate similar to that of nondiabetics.

"Given the chelatable nature of this iron pool," Dr. Levy concluded, "it may indicate that iron chelation therapy could be useful in the treatment of these patients."

Diabetes Care 2004;27:2730-2732.

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DID YOU KNOW:

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 54.8 percent of diabetics over the age of 19 were obese between 1999 and 2002. That compared with 45.7 percent in the same age group between 1988 and 1994. When the category was expanded to include diabetics who were obese or overweight, the percentage surged to 85.2 percent in 1999-2002 compared with 78.5 percent in the earlier period.