Serum Levels of Calcium, Phosphate and Magnesium in Sudanese Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

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.