Relationship between serum magnesium level and insulin resistance in obese non-diabetic subjects and obese type2 diabetic patients

Background and Aim: Type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity are multifactorial diseases including interactions between hereditary and environmental factors. A common feature shared between these two diseases is the existence of insulin resistance. Magnesium (Mg2+) plays an important role in glucose homeostasis. Our study aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum Mg level and insulin resistance in obese non-diabetic subjects and obese T2DM patients then compared them with controls. Patients and Methods: The present study consist of 120 subjects of both genders and aged range between (20-70) years. The subjects were divided into four groups: Group I including 30 healthy subjects as a control. Group II consisted of 30 obese non-diabetic subjects. Group III included 30 obese T2DM patients with disease history less than 1 year and group IV included 30 obese T2DM with disease history more than 5 years. Serum Mg, fasting lipids, glucose, insulin and creatinine were measured. BMI and HOMA-IR were calculated. Results: Serum Mg level was significantly decreased in group IV (1.72±0.1 mg/dl) as compared to groups I (2.07±0.1 mg/dl) (p<0.05), while serum Mg level was slightly decreased in group II and group III (1.98±0.2 mg/dl) as compared to group I. The HOMA-IR was significantly increased in group IV (7.9±7.0) as compared to group I (1.03±0.3) (p<0.05), also a significant difference was found between group III (4.99±4.1) and group II (2.82±2.3) in compared to group I (p<0.05). Conclusions: Low serum Mg level was found in obese T2DM patients and obese non-diabetic subjects. We suggest measuring serum Mg level regularly in obese T2DM patients especially in older age patients, and patients who require supplementation should consider.