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Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase level and diabetes mellitus among US adults

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Abstract

Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a marker of oxidative stress, has been shown to be associated with diabetes mellitus in some population-based studies, but not all. Also, it is not clear if there is a continuous dose-response relationship in this association, or if this association is evident only beyond a particular threshold level of GGT. We examined the association between serum GGT and diabetes mellitus in a representative sample of US adults aged ≥20 years, in a cross-sectional study involving 7,976 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002 participants. Diabetes mellitus was defined as a fasting glucose ≥ 126mg/dl, nonfasting glucose ≥200 mg/dl, or use of oral hypoglycemic medication or insulin (n = 805). Higher serum GGT levels were positively associated with diabetes mellitus, independent of, alcohol consumption, body mass index, hypertension and other confounders. Multivariable odds ratio (95% confidence interval) comparing quartile 4 of GGT (>33 U/L) to quartile 1 (<15U/L) was 2.33 (1.59–3.41), P-trend < 0.0001. This association persisted in separate analysis among men and women. In nonparametric models, the positive association between serum GGT and diabetes appeared to be present across the full range of GGT, without any threshold effect. Higher serum GGT levels are positively associated with diabetes mellitus.

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Contributors:

All authors contributed to the intellectual development of this paper. AS, CS had the original idea for the study. CS wrote the first draft paper, and is the guarantor. JL analyzed the data and provided critical corrections to the manuscript. CP, AD was involved in writing the paper and provided critical corrections to the manuscript.

Ethical Approval:

This study followed the recommendations of Declaration of Helsinki. Subjects signed a consent form, and approval was obtained from the Human Subjects Committee in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Charumathi Sabanayagam

  2. Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 9190, Morgantown, WV, 26506-9190, USA

    Anoop Shankar, Cecil Pollard & Alan Ducatman

  3. Department of Statistics and Applied Probability, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jialiang Li

Authors
  1. Charumathi Sabanayagam
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  2. Anoop Shankar
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  4. Cecil Pollard
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Correspondence to Anoop Shankar.

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Sabanayagam, C., Shankar, A., Li, J. et al. Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase level and diabetes mellitus among US adults. Eur J Epidemiol 24, 369–373 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-009-9346-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-009-9346-7

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