Objectives: To measure the rate of Demodex folliculorum mite infestation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to investigate if it was related to blood glucose control.
Methods: Patients with type 2 diabetes were classified according to their glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) level into two groups: a well controlled blood glucose group (HbA(1c) ≤ 7%) and a poorly controlled blood glucose group (HbA(1c) > 7%). A standardized skin surface biopsy method was used to determine if the patients had D. folliculorum infestation (>5 mites/cm² of skin).
Results: A total of 69 patients (38 female) were enrolled in the study. Seventeen (24.6%) patients had D. folliculorum infestation. There were no significant differences in age, sex or body mass index between patients with and without D. folliculorum infestations. A significantly higher proportion of patients with poor blood glucose control had D. folliculorum infestation compared with patients with well controlled blood glucose.
Conclusions: These current findings suggest that poor blood glucose regulation increases the susceptibility to D. folliculorum mite infestation in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Keywords: Demodex mites; Diabetes mellitus; blood glucose regulation.