Determinants of Microbial Load in Infected Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Pilot Study

Table 1

Patient characteristics.

Parameter	Value
Age (years, mean ± SD)	65.63±12.71
Sex (males/females)	38/24
Diabetes type (2/1)	59/3
Diabetes duration (years, mean ± SD)	16.31±8.07
Ulcer duration (median, IQR)*	2 (1.0–4.25)
ABI (mean ± SD)	0.94±0.34
NDS (mean ± SD)	7.02±2.33
NSS (median, IQR)	2 (0–4)
PEDIS infection grade (median, IQR)	2 (2-3)
Total microbial load (CFUS, median, IQR)	275000 (0.0–24900000)
Number of isolates on tissue culture (median, IQR)	1 (0–2)
WBC (mean ± SD)	8142.58±2174.97
PLT (mean ± SD)	271685.48±81581.41
Ht% (mean ± SD)	36.77±4.56
CRP (mg/dL, median, IQR)	1.2 (0.72–2.93)
Urea (mg/dL, median, IQR)	41.50 (34.00–56.25)
Creatinine (mg/dL, median, IQR)	1.00 (0.80–1.20)
AST (U/L, mean ± SD)	22.85±9.84
ALT (U/L, mean ± SD)	24.39±10.79
HbA1c (%, mean ± SD)	8.29±1.50
LDL (mg/dl, mean ± SD)	114.53±38.65
HDL (mg/dl, mean ± SD)	44.07±10.82
TC (mg/dl, mean ± SD)	189.32±44.83
TGs (mg/dl, mean ± SD)	159.61±50.26
SUA (mg/dl, mean ± SD)	5.24±1.62
CPK (U/L, mean ± SD)	126.03±78.18
FPG (mg/dl, mean ± SD)	171.18±56.65

∗Duration of ulcer in months, as based on medical history.
ABI: ankle-brachial index; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; CFUs: colony-forming units; CPK: creatine phosphokinase; CRP: c-reactive protein; FPG: fasting plasma glucose; HDL: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Ht%: haematocrit; IQR: interquartile range; LDL: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; NDS: neuropathy disability score; NSS: neuropathy symptom score; PEDIS: grade of diabetic foot infection, according to the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot; PLT: platelet count; SD: standard deviation; SUA: serum uric acid; TC: total cholesterol; TGs: triglycerides; WBC: white blood cell count.