Association between Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and Fetal Hemoglobin Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Table 1

Clinical and laboratory characteristics of diabetic patients and healthy individuals.

Parameters	Diabetic patients ()	Healthy individuals ()	value
Clinical characteristics
Age (years)			0.652
Sex (male, , %)	89 (55.6)	32 (52.4)	0.670
BMI (kg/m^2)			0.001
Smokers (, %)	43 (26.8)	15 (24.6)	0.741
Duration of diabetes (years)	0.9 (0.3–1.2)	0 (0.0)	<0.001
Lipocalin
NGAL (ng/mL)	145.0 (84.3–180.5)	63.5 (48.5–112.0)	<0.001
Elevated NGAL (, %)	76 (47.5)	0 (0.0)	<0.001
HbF production
HbF level (%)			<0.001
High HbF (, %)	41 (25.6)	4 (6.5)	<0.001
Inflammatory parameters
TNF-α (pg/mL)	40.6 (10.3–95.2)	15.2 (3.8–29.6)	<0.001
IL-5 (pg/mL)	14.1 (6.2–50.4)	3.9 (1.7–18.3)	<0.001
hsCRP (mg/dL)	0.72 (0.23–3.21)	0.10 (0.05–0.32)	<0.001
Elevated hsCRP (, %)	89 (55.6)	0 (0.0)	<0.001
Glycemic parameters
FPG (mmol/L)			<0.001
HbA1c (%)			<0.001
Kidney function
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m^2)			<0.001
MAU (, %)	30 (18.7)	0 (0.0)	<0.001

Data are expressed as , median (IQR), or frequency (%). BMI: body mass index; NGAL: neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin; HbF: fetal hemoglobin; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-5: interleukin-5; hsCRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; FPG: fasting plasma glucose; HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin; eGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate; MAU: microalbuminuria.