ALB and diabetes mellitus: This leads to the production of larger reticulocytes causing an increase in RDW.9-15 Particularly in DM, increased glycosylation of cell surface proteins, reduced plasma membrane fluidity and decreased erythrocyte deformability make the erythrocytes vulnerable to damage further increasing RDW.30 While RDW as a singular factor reflects the systemic inflammatory status, the addition of albumin improves the prognostic ability of the marker.