Abstract
Background and Objective: The use of plasma calprotectin; a protein mainly expressed in neutrophils; as a diagnostic and/or prognostic marker in type 2 diabetic patients is still controversial. Being a non-invasive test, this study was designed to detect if urinary calprotectin could be used to differentiate between treated-controlled and treated-uncontrolled type II diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: Based on levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), postprandial blood sugar (PPBS) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), 200 adult diabetic patients on regular anti-diabetic treatment were equally divided into four groups: controlled non-obese (controlled diabetics with no obesity) and controlled obese (controlled diabetics with obesity), uncontrolled non-obese (uncontrolled diabetics with no obesity) and uncontrolled obese (uncontrolled diabetics with obesity) in addition to a healthy control group (non-diabetic subjects with no obesity). The exclusion criteria included renal diseases, use of medications other than anti-diabetics, infection, use of antibiotics two weeks before the study, major comorbidities, pregnancy and lactation. Urine samples were collected for assay of calprotectin. Results: The level of urinary calprotectin did not differ significantly in all groups. Also Pearson correlation and the regression analysis showed non-significant correlations between urine calprotectin and FBS, PPBS or HbA1c in all groups. Conclusion: Urinary calprotectin levels did not differ significantly between controlled and uncontrolled patients with type 2 diabetes whether obese or not indicating that it cannot be used to differentiate between treated-controlled and treated-uncontrolled patients with type II diabetes.