Abstract: Objective To investigate the level and influencing factors of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) in the elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 536 elderly T2DM patients who hospitalized in Department of Endocrinology in our hospital from March to October 2019 were selected. The levels of CA19-9 and related indexes of glucose and lipid metabolism were measured, and the use of hypoglycemic drugs and microvascular complications were recorded. The clinical characteristics of the patients with different CA19-9 levels were compared. The correlation between CA19-9 and related indexes of glucose and lipid metabolism were analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis. Results The incidence rate of elevated CA19-9 level in the elderly T2DM patients was 7. 5%. There were significant differences in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), calcium and postprandial C-peptide between CA19-9 ＜37 U/mL group and CA19-9≥37 U/mL group (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). The level of CA19-9 in metformin group was lower than that in non-metformin group (P<0. 05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the level of CA19-9 was positively correlated with age, total cholesterol, triglyceride, hypersensitive C-reactive protein and HbA1c, but negatively correlated with albumin and postprandial C-peptide (P<0. 05). Multiple stepwise regression model showed that HbA1c was independent influencing factor of CA19-9. Conclusions The elderly patients with T2DM treated with metformin may have lower level of CA19-9. The level of CA19-9 is closely related to the status of blood glucose control in the elderly patients with T2DM.

Key words: type 2 diabetes mellitus, aged, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, metformin, glycosylated hemoglobin