High Serum Bilirubin Is Associated with the Reduced Risk of Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetic Nephropathy

Bilirubin protects grafts against nonspecific inflammation-induced injury in syngeneic intraportal islet transplantation

“…Recent clinical data have shown that high serum bilirubin is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy, suggesting bi-lirubin may have an insulin-sensitizing role (Han et al, 2010). These studies have added further support for the potential use of bilirubin co-therapy for improving the survival of islets transplanted in patients.…”

Diabetes, bilirubin and amputations: is there a link?

“…This protection may extend to diabetic nephropathy [6] and retinopathy [8], although the literature is not consistent. Does this mean that, in terms of bilirubin levels, there was an element of unintentional pre-selection in the FIELD trial?…”

“…All the patients in the FIELD trial had type 2 diabetes; therefore, it is of interest that a high total bilirubin level may protect against diabetes (an effect possibly related to actions of bilirubin on glucose metabolism, among other mechanisms) [5][6][7]. This protection may extend to diabetic nephropathy [6] and retinopathy [8], although the literature is not consistent.…”

Bilirubin as an important physiological modulator of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in metabolic syndrome and diabetes: a new aspect on old molecule

“…The Hisayama Study group reported that comparing to the lowest bilirubin quartile, those with the highest bilirubin levels had a four times lower prevalence of diabetic retinopathy [3]. In a large Korean cross-sectional study on 94,000 subjects, high serum bilirubin was found to be associated with the reduced risk of both diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy [4]. Recent report showed a significant and graded inverse association between baseline serum bilirubin levels and the progression of diabetic nephropathy in a post hoc analysis in the RENNAL trial [5].…”