Association of WBC count and glucose metabolism among Chinese population aged 40 years and over

Chronic subclinical inflammation may be involved in the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes. We examined whether elevated WBC count, a marker of inflammation, was associated with worsening of glucose tolerance among Chinese population aged 40 years and over. Based on the 75 g OGTT, 1016 subjects aged from 40 to 88 years were classified into four groups: NFG/NGT (n = 299), isolated IFG (n = 213), IGT (n = 213) and Type 2 diabetes (n = 291). We compared the WBC count among the four groups and investigated relevant variables associated significantly with the WBC count. The IGT and Type 2 diabetes groups had a significantly higher WBC count than the NFG/NGT and isolated IFG groups. By stepwise regression analyses, we found that waist circumference, DBP, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and 2-h PG showed an independent association with the WBC count. In the analysis stratified by sex and smoking status, WBC count was independently associated with age and triglycerides in males, whereas it was associated with BMI, SBP, triglycerides and 2-h PG in females. BMI, SBP, triglycerides and 2-h PG showed an independent association with WBC count in subjects who never smoked. We concluded that an increase in WBC count was associated with the deterioration of glucose tolerance. WBC count was associated with lipid metabolism in males and with various components of the metabolic syndrome in females and subjects who never smoked.