To examine if there is a correlation between high blood glucose and serum ceruloplasmin (Cp) levels.
Serum Cp levels were measured in 637 patients with type 2 diabetes (all type 2 diabetes group). For the follow-up type 2 diabetes group, 161 patients who had not had any changes in their situation during the last year that are known to influence serum Cp levels were reexamined 1 year later. The control group was composed of 158 healthy individuals. Serum Cp and blood HbA1c levels were measured by radial immunodiffusion and high-performance liquid chromatography assays, respectively.
Serum Cp levels in the all type 2 diabetes group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.0001), although the serum Cp levels did not correlate with the blood HbA1c levels in the all type 2 diabetes group (r = 0.055, P = 0.351). Then we evaluated those factors (Δ-log Cp and Δ-HbA1c) in the follow-up type 2 diabetes group to minimize changes from the genetic differences and to exclude any known factors influencing serum Cp levels. This indicated that the Δ-HbA1c had a positive correlation to the Δ-log Cp (r = 0.304, P < 0.0001).
A persistent high blood glucose (namely HbA1c) is associated with an increase in serum Cp levels over 1 year.
