Oct 26, 2020

Ling Feng,* Haishan Chen,* Jianhui Chen, Chongxiang Xiong, Xiaofei Shao, Xin Wang, Jing Ning, Zhicong Xiang, Xuan Wang, Tong Chen, Hua Xiao, Hongjuan Tang, Xiaolin Li, Guobao Hong, Hequn Zou Department of Nephrology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510630, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence: Hequn Zou; Xiaofei Shao Department of Nephrology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, 183, Zhongshan West Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510630, People’s Republic of China Email Hequnzou@hotmail.com; 413151187@qq.com Objective: To explore whether the red blood cell count multiplied by hematocrit index (RBCHct) in blood routine parameters can indicate the risk of impaired fasting blood glucose (IFG), and whether it is related to insulin resistance and inflammation. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, previous history of diabetes was excluded, and people with normal and impaired IFG were included. We use Spearman analysis to evaluate the correlation between RBCHct index and fasting plasma glucose, insulin resistance homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the RBCHct index for assessing the potential risk of IFG, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the RBCHct index for diagnosing insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammatory efficacy among those with IFG. Results: Correlation analysis showed that the RBCHct index and fasting plasma glucose (r=0.088, P=0.003); HOMA-IR (r=0.199, P< 0.001); and hs-CRP (r=0.097, P=0.001) were positively correlated. After adjusting for confounding factors, the risk of IFG in the third and fourth quartiles of the RBCHct index increased to 1.889 and 3.048 times. The area under the ROC curve of the RBCHct index for diagnosis of insulin resistance state (HOMA-IR) was 0.695 (p< 0.001), and the area under the ROC curve of the RBCHct index for the diagnosis of chronic low-inflammatory state (hs-CRP) was 0.641 (P=0.010). Conclusion: The RBCHct index may be a potential indicator for assessing the risk of prediabetes and is closely related to whether the body is in a state of insulin resistance and inflammation under IFG. Keywords: diabetes mellitus, erythrocyte, RBCHct index, insulin resistance, inflammation This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License . By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms .