Abstract

Emerging evidence suggests that the metabolism of several trace elements is altered in diabetes mellitus and that these metals might have specific roles in the pathogenesis and progress of this disease because of their diverse metabolic characteristics and functions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between diabetes mellitus and the plasma level of essential trace elements, Chromium (Cr), Magnesium (Mg), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn) in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. A total of 148 subjects consisting of 98 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and 50 non-diabetic control subjects were recruited. The element concentrations were measured by means of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer after wet-acid digestion. Results reveal that diabetic status is associated with alterations of levels of analyzed trace metals. Significant (p<0.001) elevation of plasma glucose was associated with marked decreases in chromium (p<0.01) and zinc (p<0.05) with significant (p<0.001) increases in magnesium and molybdenum (p<0.001) levels when compared with the control. Prevalence of reduced levels of Zn was 65.34, Mg 18.22, Mo 12.87 and Cr 79.2% in diabetes patients compared with Zn 22.36, Mg 16.78, Mo 11.83 and Cr 22.00% respectively in the control subjects. The plasma level of glucose was negatively correlated with the levels of Zn, Cr, Mo and Mg of diabetic subjects. A positive correlation between zinc (r = 0.65, p<0.01), molybdenum (r = 0.57, p<0.01) and magnesium as well as between zinc and chromium (r = 0.53, p<0.01) was observed in diabetic patients. Overall, deficiency of both chromium and zinc co-exist in the diabetes mellitus patients studied and was associated with marked raised molybdenum with slightly raised magnesium.

Keywords:

Deficiency, diabetes mellitus, prevalence, trace elements,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.