ABSTRACT
Background: Hypomagnesaemia may have negative impact on glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. This study was done to compare serum Mg levels in type 2 diabetic patients with non diabetic healthy control subjects and to assess the correlation between serum Mg levels and glycemic control in Egyptian patients. Methods: 60 type 2 diabetic patients attending the outpatient clinic of diabetes at Kasr Al Aini hospital faculty of medicine Cairo University and 30 healthy age matched control subjects were enrolled. Fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin, fasting lipids, Hb A1C and serum Mg were measured. Weight, height and blood pressure were recorded. BMI, IR (HOMA), were calculated. The data was analyzed and expressed in terms of mean ± SD. Pearson correlation was performed to establish the relationship between Mg and metabolic variables in type 2 diabetic patients. Results: serum Mg levels were significantly reduced in type 2 diabetic patients compared to the control group with mean ±SD (1.29 ± 0.31 mg/dl) versus (2.41 ± 0.13 mg/dl) with P value < 0.001. There were highly significantly negative correlations between serum Mg levels and HbA1c, fasting glucose and insulin resistance with (r = -0.969, -0.894, -0.653) respectively, P value < 0.001. The best cut off point of Mg was ≤ 2.0 mg/dl in differentiating cases from controls using ROC curve analysis. Conclusion: hypomagnesaemia is closely linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus and it is strongly correlated to glycemic control. We recommend to measure serum Mg in type 2 diabetes and patients who need supplementation should be considered.