Association of Total and Differential White Blood Cell Counts to Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Mexican Americans in Cameron County Hispanic Cohort
The prevalences of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States are high.
More than one-third of US adults are obese, but age-adjusted obesity in Hispanics is
higher at 42.5%. In 2014, 9.3% of the US population was reported to have type 2 diabetes
but the age-adjusted rate of diagnosed type 2 diabetes in Mexican Americans nationally
was also higher at 13.9%.
Cameron County, Texas is a USA-Mexico border community with 80.5%
Mexican Americans2 where we have a community-based cohort, the Cameron county
Hispanic cohort.
However, there are a few studies that demonstrate association of inflammatory markers
with development of type 2 diabetes.14-16 In particular, in some studies total WBC
count and/or WBC differential counts, lymphocytes and granulocytes, were found to be independent
risk factors for development of type 2 diabetes.
In addition, the studies of total WBC counts and WBC differential counts and development
of type 2 diabetes were conducted in different populations with respect to gender, ethnicity,
and glycemic status; however there is no information of how total and differential WBC counts
are associated with transition to type 2 diabetes in Mexican-American people of mixed European
and Amerindian ancestry.
Diabetes Res Open J. 2015; 1(4): 103-112. doi: 10.17140/DROJ-1-117
