Correlating serum ferritin with microalbuminuria for early detection of diabetic nephropathy: A comparative analysis between adult and older adult diabetes patients

Background: This study aimed to determine whether serum ferritin levels correlate with microalbuminuria as an early indicator of declining renal function in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted over 18 months in the geriatric and internal medicine outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. All patients of either sex, aged >= 18 years, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and who consented to participate were enrolled in the study and were divided into adults (18-59 years) and older adults (>= 60 years). Serum ferritin, urine microalbumin levels and other relevant parameters were measured. Pearson's correlation was used to determine the correlation between the variables with serum ferritin and urine microalbumin among patients in the two age groups. Results: A total of 100 patients who met the study criteria were included. The mean age of the participants was 54 +/- 13.29 years. A significant positive association was found between higher serum ferritin levels and progressing microalbuminuria in the overall cohort (r = 0.255, p = 0.011) and adult subgroups (r = 0.331, p = 0.019), but not in older adults. Urine albumin-creatinine ratio and urine microalbumin showed a strong positive correlation in the total cohort and age subgroups [r = 0.636, p < 0.001; r (50) = 0.560 (adults), p < 0.001; and r (50) = 0.827 (older adults), p < 0.001]. Conclusion: Elevated serum ferritin levels are positively associated with microalbuminuria, particularly in adults with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that ferritin may be an early biomarker of declining renal function.