Background. The aim of the study was to investigate if and how, in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients, serum Magnesium (Mg) concentration influences serum lipids. A cross-sectional study was conducted on diabetic mellitus (DM) patients with various kidney functions, not yet on dialysis. Material and methods. Serum lipoprotein (a), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA_1c), serum magnesium (Mg), serum creatinine (creat) and serum lipids, consisting of triglycerides (Tg), cholesterol (Chol) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured.
Results. Study patients included 122 patients (82 F, 40 M). The mean patient's age was 63 (± 10) years. The mean length of time they were diabetic was 7.4 (± 5.8) years (median: 6 years). The mean serum Mg was 2 (± 0.4) mg/dl (median: 1.99 mg/dl). The mean creatinine clearance was 64 (± 24) cc/min (median: 64 cc/min). In this study significant inverse correlations of serum Mg with serum cholesterol and LDL, and also non significant correlations of serum Mg with serum Lp (a), HDL, Tg and with serum HbA_1c were seen. Moreover, a significant inverse correlation of serum Mg with the patients' ages and a significant positive correlation of serum Mg with serum creatinine were also seen.
Conclusions. It seems that in diabetic patients, kidney function is a key role in the regulation of serum Lp(a) levels instead of other factors like serum Mg level. Our findings further support the importance of Mg supplementation in diabetes mellitus patients. In our study no significant correlation between serum Mg with serum HDL and Tg were found, which needs further investigation.