Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder associated with both microvascular and macrovascular complications. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of platelet activity, which plays a major role in the development of vascular complications of DM. The aim of this study is to compare the MPV levels before and after the decrease of glycated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) levels in a large diabetic population.
Material and methods: This was a retrospective study conducted on type 2 diabetic patients from the outpatient clinic for 1 year between 2014 and 2015 with the participation of 595 diabetic patients.
Results: When we compared the basal and post-treatment values, a significant decrease of MPV and HbA_1c levels was found (HbA_1c: 9.41 ±1.98% vs. 7.43 ±1.29%, p < 0.001; MPV: 9.11 ±1.42 vs. 8.17 ±1.04, p < 0.001). There was also a positive correlation between the mean changes of MPV and HbA_1c levels after the treatment (MPV: 0.93 ±0.96 vs. HbA_1c: 1.96 ±1.43; p = 0.005, r = 0.115). When the participants were divided into two groups according to their basal HbA_1c levels (group A: HbA_1c ≤ 6.5% and group B: HbA_1c > 6.5%), it was clearly seen that improvement of glucose levels led to a significant decrease in MPV levels in both groups.
Conclusions: The results of this study show that better glycemic control is associated with a significant decrease of MPV levels, regardless of whether the treatment modality is insulin or oral antidiabetic.