Hypomagnesemia in type 2 diabetic Omani patients

OBJECTIVE: To study serum total magnesium (Mg) levels in type 2 diabetic Omani patients, and to find the relation between Mg levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI), and age of the patient.

METHODS: This work was carried out at the Bousher Polyclinic, Muscat, Oman from January to October 2008. We compared 34 type 2 diabetic patients with non-diabetic subjects as regards serum total Mg. We assessed diabetic patients in terms of age, gender, HbA1c, BMI, and their medications. Subjects at risk for apparent causes of hypomagnesemia or hypermagnesemia were excluded.

RESULTS: The mean serum total Mg level was 0.92 mmol/L (SD 0.06) in the control subjects, and 0.81 mmol/L (SD 0.08) in the diabetic group, and although almost all our diabetic patients have no hypomagnesemia, their levels of serum total Mg were significantly reduced compared with control subjects. T-test shows that our diabetics have significantly lower total Mg levels with a difference of 0.12 mmol/L (p=0.000) irrespective of age and gender. The Mg levels are positively correlated with age, but no correlation with HbA1c and BMI.

CONCLUSION: Although ionized and intracellular Mg levels are more reliable than total serum Mg in assessing Mg deficiency, low total serum levels of Mg are frequently seen in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Further studies on the role of Mg supplementation in the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its complications and similar studies in type 1 diabetes mellitus are recommended.