Effectiveness of platelet indices in predicting type 2 diabetes mellitus microvascular complications

Objective - This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of platelet indices, namely mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, plateletcrit and platelet count for prediction of microvascular complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods - A hospital-based, single-centre, observational, matched case-control study was conducted. A total of 120 diabetic cases and 120 non-diabetic controls were recruited and various biochemical parameters (fasting and post-prandial blood glucose, HbA1c, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, plateletcrit, platelet count and others) were measured. All diabetic cases were subjected for diagnosis of retinopathy, nephropathy or neuropathy. Statistical analyses were performed using unpaired t-test and Pearson’s correlation test. Results - The mean (±SD) age of the diabetic cases and controls were 59.8 (±11.2) years and 53.61 (±10.66) years, respectively. The overall male:female distribution was 64.2%:35.8% and 55.8%:44.2% in diabetic cases and controls, respectively. Platelet count and plateletcrit were found to be significantly higher in diabetic cases than controls (288741 (±97447)/µL vs. 255041 (±63883)/µL, p-value = 0.002; 0.234±0.072% vs. 0.201±0.043%, p-value = 0.0002). However, mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width in diabetic cases were not found to be significantly changed when compared to controls. Plateletcrit showed positive correlation with HbA1c with Pearson’s correlation coefficient of r=0.19 (p-value <0.05). Mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width were found to be not-significantly correlated with HbA1c. Among diabetics, only plateletcrit was found to be significantly raised in cases with all complications compared to cases with no complication (p-value <0.05). Conclusion - Plateletcrit and platelet count were found to be efficacious in forecasting the microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes.