Ethnicity, Age, and Gender Differences in Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Levels among Adults in Northern and Eastern Sudan: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The level of association between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level and ethnicity, age, and gender is not yet settled. This study aimed to investigate the association between ethnicity, age, and gender and HbA1c level among adults who were known not to have diabetes mellitus in northern and eastern Sudan. METHODS: A comparative community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics data were collected. HbA1c levels were measured, and multiple linear regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 898 adults (363 in northern Sudan and 535 in eastern Sudan) were included; 349 (38.9%) were males. The HbA1c level was significantly higher in eastern Sudan, and there was no significant difference in HbA1c levels between genders. In multiple linear regression, for adults with HbA1c <6.5%, ethnicity and BMI were associated with HbA1c, but age and gender were not associated with HbA1c. In northern Sudan, age was positively associated with HbA1c, and there was no association between gender, BMI, and HbA1c in adults with HbA1c <6.5%. In eastern Sudan, BMI was positively associated with HbA1c, and there was no significant association between age and gender and HbA1c level in adults with HbA1c <6.5%. CONCLUSION: HbA1c levels are influenced by ethnicity and age but not by gender.

Association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T and reduced-f carrier-1 G80A gene polymorphism with preeclampsia in Sudanese women.

Purpose: To assess the associations between preeclampsia, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T, and reduced folate carrier-1 (RFC-1) G80A gene polymorphism in Sudanese women.Methods: A matched (for age and parity) case-control study was conducted in a tertiary hospital (Saad Abualila) in Khartoum, Sudan during February to September 2018. The cases were women with preeclampsia and healthy pregnant women were the controls (160 women in each arm of the study). Genotyping for MTHFR C677T and RFC-1 G80A was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.Results: . . The MTHFR C677T variation was significantly more frequent in women with preeclampsia (16.2%) than in healthy pregnant women (1.8%) (OR = 10.1, 95% CI = 3.0-34.2, P < 0.001). There was borderline significance in the RFC-1 G80A variation, which was present in 2.50% of women with preeclampsia, but was not found in healthy pregnant women (P = 0.052).Conclusions: A higher prevalence of MTHFR C677T polymorphism in women with preeclampsia compared with healthy pregnant women suggests involvement of this variation in preeclampsia in Sudan.