Abstract:
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a non-infectious disease that has a high prevalence worldwide. Altered level of
many haematological parameters have been observed in patients with diabetes. The levels of lipids are also
affected in diabetes by many factors since carbohydrate metabolism affect lipid metabolism. So far, very little work
has been done linking haematological parameters and lipid profile in diabetics. The purpose of this study was
therefore to evaluate the haematological parameters and lipid profiles of patients with type-2 diabetes and to
correlate the results.
Method: Three hundred and four (304) patients with type-2 diabetes with an age range of 28 to 70 years (171
males and 133 females) were recruited. About 5 ml of venous blood samples were collected from each participant
after an overnight fast. A part of the blood samples was used to determine the lipid profile parameters and the
other parts for the haematological parameters. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0 and
Microsoft office excel (2010) for windows were used for the statistical analysis of the data. Pearson’s correlation
were performed between haematological and lipid parameters. Significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results: The means and standard deviation of all the lipid parameters except TC showed significant difference in
both males and females. There was also proportional increment in LDL-C (in males), LDL-C and Triglycerides (in
females) as the age of participants increased and the ratio of TC/HDL was higher in males. There was also
significant difference in all of the haematological parameters between the male and female populations. Further, a
strong, significant positive correlation between RBC and lymphocytes and lipid parameters was observed. However,
the correlation between platelets, haematocrit and haemoglobin and the lipid parameters was negatively
significant.
Conclusion: From the results obtained, it can be concluded that there is significant difference in lipid parameters
between male and female diabetic patients. Levels of LDL-C and Triglycerides increased as the age of participants
increased and the male population showed increased risk for coronary disease. Almost all of the haematological
parameters examined differed significantly between the sexes. There was also, both strong positive and negative
correlations between the haematological parameters and the lipid profiles.
