Serum Magnesium Levels in Pre-diabetics and Its Correlation to Body Mass Index

Background: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide and recent estimates indicate that one out of three people will develop diabetes during their lifetime. Diabetes is a growing public health burden across the world, particularly in developing countries. Homeostasis of trace elements such as magnesium has been found to play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes and diabetic complications. Studies have found out an association between serum magnesium and incident diabetes; where diabetes may induce urinary magnesium loss. However, in pre-diabetes, serum glucose levels are below the threshold for urinary magnesium wasting and hence unlikely to influence serum magnesium levels. This study was done to assess their serum magnesium levels and find their correlation.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 120 pre-diabetic subjects. Pre-diabetes was diagnosed as per ADA guidelines and body mass index was calculated according to Asian guidelines of BMI. Serum magnesium levels were done for all of them and statistically analysed to correlate the serum magnesium with body mass. All the statistical data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

Results: The present study observed that 69 out of 120 pre-diabetics, 57.5% have low magnesium levels. This study showed that 57.5% of pre-diabetics have normal body mass index, out of which more than half of them have normal serum magnesium. But out of 12 obese pre-diabetics, 11 had low serum magnesium 91.6%. (P value 0.026 which is statistically significant).

Conclusions: This study observed that serum magnesium levels are low in Pre-diabetics. Significant hypomagnesemia has been seen in pre-diabetics with high BMI compared to those with normal BMI. Further studies will be needed to elaborate on this association, monitoring the diets and physical activity in a larger population.