TFRC and type 2 diabetes mellitus: Therefore, in the present research, we aimed to assess the associations of multiple biomarkers of iron metabolism, including SF, transferrin, sTfR, SI, TSAT, total body iron (TBI), and sTfR-to-lgferritin (sTfR-F) index, with IGM and T2DM risk in Chinese women of childbearing age, to provide strong evidence to fully clarify the role of iron metabolism in the development of T2DM and better guide iron reference intake in these populations.