Serum triacylglycerol: A putative early biomarker of disease severity of Type 2 diabetes mellitus compared to microalbuminuria

499-504Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus progresses to several complications including nephropathy. While glycated hemoglobin demarcates severity, urinary microalbumin indicates renal involvement. Considering nephropathy is a late manifestation of the disease, here, we explored whether serum triacylglycerol (TAG) can be used as an early disease severity biomarker. About 100 Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were recruited and categorized as moderate (n=43) and severe (n=57) based on glycated haemoglobin (8%) level. Duration of the disease, BMI, systolic and diastolic BP, fasting and Post Prandial plasma glucose, glycated haemoglobin, serum lipid profile and urinary microalbumin were measured. Results obtained were compared between the groups and correlated. Taking glycated haemoglobin as reference, receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed for serum triacylglycerol and urinary microalbumin excretion to check their efficacy as classifier of disease severity. Significant differences (P <0.001) were recorded for plasma glucose, glycated haemoglobin, triacylglycerol and microalbuminuria but not for other parameters. Significant association (P <0.001) of glycated haemoglobin was displayed with triacylglycerol (r=0.67), fasting (r=0.0.71) and Post Prandial (r=0.82) plasma glucose and urine microalbumin levels (r=0.54). Serum triacylglycerol and urinary microalbumin levels also showed significant correlation (P <0.001, r=0.44). ROC curve analysis showed better performance of triacylglycerol (AUC=0.97) than microalbuminuria (AUC=0.88) to demarcate severity of diabetes. The results indicate that serum triacylglycerol is a better classifier of Type 2 diabetes mellitus than urinary microalbumin level, and may help in early assessment of the disease progression