Association of micronutrients and haemopoietic parameters with glucose in diabetics in a rural area of the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Metabolic and haematological disorders, folate, vitamins B12 and K (micronutrients) deficiencies are complications which increase with age. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In 2017, more than 463 million people worldwide were diabetic. Deficiencies of the above-mentioned micronutrients have been reported in diabetics with polyuria. Although DM, haematological disorders and micronutrient deficiencies co-occur and increase with age, association of the micronutrients and haematological parameters with glucose do not seem to have been studied adequately in rural dwellers. The objectives of the study were to determine the levels of the micronutrients in blood samples, to perform full blood count and, to examine their association with glucose in 379 participants (female: n=284; men: n=95, who comprised 114 diabetics and 265 non-diabetics), residing in Ga-Mamabolo village, north-east of Polokwane, South Africa. Following ethical approval, fasting blood samples were analysed for glucose, the micronutrients and haematological parameters. Body weight and height were measured from which body mass index was calculated. Data analysis conducted withthe Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 26.0), included chi-square, student t-test, correlation and logistic regression. Folate and vitamin B12 associated significantly with glucose in DM, both in the binary and multivariate logistic regression models (p<0.05). Haematological parameters did not associate significantly with glucose (p>0.05). It was concluded that DM is an independent risk factor for folate and vitamin B12 deficiency.