Publication:

A study on the prevalence of hypoalbuminemia in the hospitalized type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with acute hyperglycemia and its correlation with the risk to ketosis in these patients

Background Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that diminishes the quality and life expectancy of the patients by impacting a significant morbidity and mortality due to its associated complications. Diabetic ketoacidosis is considered as one such acute life-threatening complication of diabetes that is considered a medical emergency.

Methods The study was conducted as a retrospective analysis of 65 patients diagnosed as Type 2 diabetes mellitus as per the criteria of American Diabetes Association 2019 were included in the study. After the ethical clearance, the study was conducted at the Employment State Insurance Corporation Hospital and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science and Research, Chennai over a period of 6 months from October 2019 to March 2020. A statistical analysis was done and all the calculations were based on two-sided hypothesis with p<0.05 interpreted as significant.

Results The analysis of the study showed there was a significant prevalence of hypoalbuminemia (37%) among the patients with diabetes admitted with acute hyperglycemia. The occurrence of ketonuria among those patients with hypoalbuminemia were 62.5% [odds ratio (OR): 3.15, p value: 0.02].

Conclusions From the study, serum albumin levels has an inverse correlation in patients with acute hyperglycemia. Furthermore, low serum albumin harbingers the risk to ketosis in patients admitted with acute hyperglycemia thereby mirroring the relative insulin deficiency in these patients. Serum albumin can be used by the treating physician as a cost-effective tool and a marker for insulin reserve of the beta cell in an individual admitted with acute hyperglycemia, it can be used as a reliable indicator to identify those at risk to ketosis thereby to prevent and treat the dreaded diabetes related complications.