Abstract:
A cross-sectional study conducted during the period November 2008 to March
2009, compared serum levels of calcium, phosphate and magnesium of 40 Sudanese
patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (as a test group) and 30 apparently healthy
volunteers (as a control group). Participants in this study were from different hospitals
and health centers in Khartoum, Sudan. Age and gender of the test group were matched
with the control group. The serum levels of calcium and phosphate were measured using
902 auto analyzer from Roche/ Hitachi company, Germany, while the serum levels of
magnesium were measured using (AP 101) Photoelectric colorometer from Human
company.
Serum calcium was significantly raised, while serum phosphate showed insignificant
difference, whereas serum magnesium was significantly reduced in the test group
compared to the control group. Mean ± SD for the test group versus the control group:
( 9 ⋅ 48 ± 0.15 ) versus ( 8.38 ± 0.11 ) mg/dl (P=0.017); for serum calcium.
(4.43 ± 0.15) versus (4.21 ± 0.10) mg/dl (P=0.265); for serum phosphate.
(1.21 ± 0.09) versus (2.17 ± 0.06) mg/dl (P=0.021); for serum magnesium.
In the test group, both serum calcium and phosphate showed no correlation with the
duration of the disease, while serum magnesium showed a weak negative correlation with
the duration of diabetes mellitus.
From this study, it is concluded that; in Sudanese patients with type 2 diabetes
mellitus the serum levels of calcium is raised, serum phosphate is not affected, and serum
magnesium is reduced. In addition, serum calcium and phosphate are not correlated with
the duration of diabetes mellitus, whereas serum magnesium is negatively correlated with
the duration of the disease.