Serum sex hormone levels and red cell distribution width in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Red cell distribution width is a significant parameter with broad range of biological implications, variation in red cell size of subjects with type 2 diabetes can cause significant changes in sex hormones. The present study aimed to assess the serum sex hormones, red cell distribution width in type 2 diabetes mellitus compared to healthy individuals. This case–control study was performed on 100 cases (70 diabetic patients and 30 healthy individuals). The testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone and hematological indices [RBC count, hemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red cell distribution width–coefficient of variation (RDW-CV), and red cell distribution width–standard deviation (RDW-SD)] were assessed in both groups. All the analyses were performed in SPSS software (version 25). In terms of gender, the greater numbers of participants (55.7%) were female. The follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in female diabetic patients was significantly higher than that in control group (p <0.001), and the testosterone (TT) level was significantly lower in male diabetic patients (p<0.001).  However, red cell distribution width standard deviation (RDW-SD) were increased in patients below 50 years (p=0.040). There were correlation between FSH, TT and RDW but not significant. The result of this study pointed out that testosterone was lower in T2DM patients while FSH was higher in T2DM patients than non-diabetes control subjects. The authors therefore, recommend that assay of sex hormones should be included in the panel of tests for T2DM during treatment.