Vol. 8, Issue 1, Part A (2026)

Background: Insulin resistance and increasing β-cell dysfunction are hallmarks of type 2 diabetes mellitus, a chronic metabolic disease. There is growing evidence that the onset and course of type 2 diabetes may be influenced by iron metabolism, specifically serum ferritin levels. Measuring serum ferritin and iron levels in T2DM patients compared to non-diabetic controls and examining the relationship between these levels and glycemic control (HbA1c) were the goals of this study.

Methods: At Al-Sader City Hospital in Iraq, 100 participants 50 T2DM patients and 50 controls took part in a cross-sectional study from March to July 2025. Samples of venous blood were drawn during a fast. Serum ferritin and iron levels were assessed using standard laboratory methods, and HbA1c was determined using EDTA samples. The data was examined using Pearson's correlation and Student's t-test; p<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Patients with diabetes had significantly higher serum ferritin levels than controls (65.67±10.40 ng/mL vs. 34.11±6.31 ng/mL, p<0.001). Similarly, HbA1c levels were considerably higher in the diabetes group (7.87±1.74%) compared to the control group (4.56±1.49%, p<0.001). Correlation analysis revealed no significant relationship between serum ferritin and HbA1c in either the control group (r = 0.22, p = 0.38) or diabetes patients (r = −0.17, p = 0.49). In conclusion, blood ferritin and HbA1c levels were significantly greater in diabetic patients than in non-diabetic individuals. Serum ferritin does not, however, significantly correlate with HbA1c, indicating that higher ferritin levels in diabetes may be more indicative of metabolic or inflammatory changes than of direct glycemic management.