Prevalence and Risk Factors of Diabetes Mellitus in β-thalassemia Major Patients in the North of Iran: Mazandaran β-thalassemia Registry - 2017 to 2019

Abstract

Introduction: Thalassemia is a hereditary hemolytic disease spread throughout India, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Turkey, and Southeast Asia. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common complication of patients with β-thalassemia major (β-TM) due to iron sediment in the pancreas. The purpose of this study was to survey the prevalence of DM in patients with β-TM. Material and Methods: Demographic, clinical information, and some biological tests in conjunction with the proportion of T2DM were retrieved from the Mazandaran Thalassemia Registry (MTR) affiliated to the Mazandaran University of Medical Science. The data belong to December 2017 until December 2019. Results: The results are as follows: Use of iron chelators like deferiprone should be with caution and with respect to the patients' metabolic state to avoid complications like diabetes. 2024 ꞵ-TM patients have registered in MTR (Mazandaran Thalassemia Registration). Data were completed for 597 cases including 72 patients (12.1%) diabetic and 525 patients (87.9%) non-diabetic. Beta-thalassemia patients with DM were significantly older than non-diabetic patients. Also, the percentage of ꞵ -TM cases dependent on red cell transfusion and patients with a history of spleen surgery in the diabetic group was significantly higher than in the non-diabetic group. Also, (42.7%) of diabetic patients (34 patients) were treated with insulin.Conclusion: We concluded that the history of splenectomy and the number of blood transfusions was higher in the diabetic group and associated with it. Future therapeutic approaches need to focus on reducing splenectomy and a high number of blood injections to avoid diabetes, and its complications in TM patients need to be investigated in future researches.