For laboratory investigations, 2 ml of venous blood was
drawn in EDTA-pretreated tubes under complete aseptic
precautions. Blood glucose levels were estimated by the glucose
oxidase–peroxidase GOD/POD method and the glycated
hemoglobin (HbA1C) was determined by the immuno-inhibition
method, both using Beckman Coulter auto-analyzer.
The study protocol was approved by the hospital’s ethics
committee for human studies, and written informed consent
was obtained from all subjects.