Affiliations: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National
University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea | Daejeon-Chungnam Branch, Korean Association of Health
Promotion, Daejeon, Korea
Note: [] Corresponding author: Bon Jeong Ku, Department of Internal
Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, 282 Munhwa-ro,
Jung-gu, Daejeon 301-721, Korea. Tel.: +82 42 280 7149; Fax: +82 42 280 7995;
E-mail: bonjeong@cnu.ac.kr
Abstract: Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the
urinary chiro- and myo-inositol levels in predicting type 2 diabetes mellitus
(T2DM). Subjects and methods: A total of 212 normal controls and 101 type 2
diabetic patients were enrolled this study. The concentrations of urinary
chiro- and myo-inositol were measured by high performance liquid
chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results: The concentration of urinary chiro-inositol was
significantly higher in the diabetic subjects (2.24 ± 5.18 ng/L) than
those in the control group (0.38 ± 0.62 ng/L; p < 0.001). The urinary
myo-inositol level of the diabetic subjects (36.95 ± 37.77 ng/L) was
also significantly higher than that of the controls (8.17 ± 13.29 ng/L;
p < 0.001). The urinary chiro-inositol multiplied by myo-inositol level of
the diabetic subjects (148.10 ± 544.91) was significantly higher than in
the controls (5.12 ± 24.15; p < 0.001). The area under the receiver
operating characteristic curve for the urinary chiro-inositol multiplied by
myo-inositol level to predict T2DM was 0.840 (confidence interval
0.789–0.891, p < 0.001). The cut-off value for the urinary
chiro-inositol multiplied by myo-inositol level to predict T2DM was 2.20
(sensitivity 81.3%, specificity 70.3%). Conclusions: The urinary chiro- and myo-inositol concentrations were
increased in the type 2 diabetic patients and the urinary chiro- times the
myo-inositol was considered to be a sufficient marker in predicting T2DM.
