Benha M. J.
Vol. 20 No 2 May 2004
THE EFFECT OF INSULIN RESISTANCE ON
SOME HAEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS :
A NEW ASPECT OF METABOLIC
SYNDROME
Fayez E. Mohamed MD, Sahar A. El-Ghrabawy MD,
Mohamed Abou El-Hassan MD, Mohamed Gh. Mohamed MD
and Soma Sh. Abd El-Gawad MD
Departments of Internal Medicine and Clinical Pathology.
Faculty of Medicine. Mansoura University, Egypt.
Abstract
Background and Objective: A strong association between insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) and cardiovascular diseases mainly coronary heart
disease has been demonstrated. Hyperinsulinaemia is an independent
risk factor for cardiovascular diseases probably due to the capacity of insulin to directly promote the growth of vascular cells and astherosclerosis. Previous studies have shown that insulin has an important in vitro
role in the regulation of human erythropoiesis. We investigated whether
in vivo hyperinsulinaemia / insulin resistance affects haematological parameters.
Methods: We studied 50 obese subjects with insulin resistance syndrome with their age ranging from 22-44 years and 20 healthy subjects
as a control with age ranging from 26-45 years. All were subjected to
thorough clinical assessment, anthropometric measurements including
body weight (Kg), height (m), body mass index (BMI) Kg/m2, waist circumference (cm), hip circumference (cm), waist/hip ratio laboratory investigations as fasting blood glucose, insulin, lipogram, PAI-1, fibrinogen and
complete blood picture. The degree of insulin resistance was assessed using the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA).
Results: Our study revealed: significant elevation of red blood cell
count, hemoglobin level, haematocrit, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1
and fibrinogen level in patients with insulin resistance syndrome with
positive correlation between the above haematological parameters and in-
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Benha M. J.
Fayez E. Mohamed et al....
Vol. 20 No 2 May 2004
sulin resistance. Also there was positive correlation, between the haematological parameters and other components of the insulin resistance syndrome e.g. body mass index, total cholesterol. Triglycerides, Low density
lipoprotein cholesterol and negative correlation with high density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Conclusion: Our findings provide in vivo evidence of a relation between
hyperinsulinaemia I insulin resistance, the main variables of insulin resistance syndrome and erythropoiesis. Increased Red blood cell count
could be considered as a new aspect of the insulin resistance syndrome
that could contribute to the increased risk of developing cardiovascular
problems.
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