Elevated White Blood Cell Count Is Associated with Higher Risk of Glucose Metabolism Disorders in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese People

Abstract

White blood cell (WBC) count has been associated with diabetic risk, but whether the correlation is independent of other risk factors has hardly been studied. Moreover, very few such studies with large sample sizes have been conducted in Chinese. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between WBC count and glucose metabolism in china. We also examined the relevant variables of WBC count. A total of 9,697 subjects (mean age, 58.0 ± 9.1 years) were recruited. The subjects were classified into four groups, including subjects with normal glucose tolerance, isolated impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We found that WBC count increased as glucose metabolism disorders exacerbated. WBC count was also positively correlated with waist hip ratio, body mass index, smoking, triglycerides, glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and 2-h postprandial glucose. In addition, high density lipoprotein and the female gender were inversely correlated with WBC levels. In patients with previously diagnosed T2DM, the course of T2DM was not correlated with WBC count. Our findings indicate that elevated WBC count is independently associated with worsening of glucose metabolism in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. In addition, loss of weight, smoking cessation, lipid-modifying therapies, and control of postprandial plasma glucose and HbA1c may ameliorate the chronic low-grade inflammation.

Association of Total and Differential White Blood Cell Counts to Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Mexican Americans in Cameron County Hispanic Cohort

“…In a prospective cohort study of Pima Indians with baseline normal glucose tolerance, Volzorova et al (2002) also found total WBC count to be an independent risk factor for development of type 2 diabetes, after controlling for age, gender and percent of body fat 17 . Similarly, Jiang et al (2014) reported that elevated total WBC count was independently associated with deterioration in glucose metabolism in middle-aged and elderly Chinese 19 . In addition, neutrophils, which comprise the majority of granulocytes, were found significantly associated with incident type 2 diabetes 30 .…”

Association between Inflammation and Biological Variation in Hemoglobin A1c in U.S. Nondiabetic Adults

“…Evidence of a relationship between HbA1c and inflammation was previously reported in studies that used CRP and WBC count to assess inflammation (15,17,20,21). Yasunari et al (16) reported that measures of oxidative stress in polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) and mononuclear cells were associated with higher HbA1c regardless of diabetes status.…”

“…Yasunari et al (16) reported that measures of oxidative stress in polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) and mononuclear cells were associated with higher HbA1c regardless of diabetes status. Recently, Jiang et al (17) demonstrated that WBC count was positively associated with HbA1c, but not FPG, in a large representative sample of the general Chinese population independent of body mass index (BMI). Farah et al (22) also reported that biomarkers of inflammation (PMNL and WBC counts) were associated with HbA1c but not FPG in type 2 diabetes patients.…”

Perfil Sociodemográfico, Bioquímico E Hematológico De Idosos Residentes Do Município De Ivoti/Rs

“…Alguns estudos têm mostrado uma forte relação entre aumento da contagem de leucócitos em portadores de doenças crônicas, como hipertensão, diabetes, obesidade e doenças ateroscleróticas (JIANG et al, 2014). Essa relação positiva pode ser explicada porque todas essas doenças levam o organismo a um estado de inflamação crônico de baixa intensidade, que eleva a contagem das células brancas, juntamente com aumento de PCR (proteína C reativa) e interleucina 6, e que, futuramente, pode levar ao comprometimento cognitivo do ser humano (KAO et al, 2011).…”