Correlation of serum magnesium with insulin resistance in North Indian adult population.

BACKGROUND: Globalization has lead to such lifestyle changes which have produced increase in incidence and prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Magnesium is found to have some role in glucose metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum magnesium levels with insulin resistance in apparently healthy adults.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to evaluate correlation of serum magnesium with fasting blood sugar, insulin level and Homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index (indicator of insulin resistance) on the basis of the hypothesis that subjects with hypomagnesaemia are more prone to develop hyperglycemia and insulin resistance.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional study which was population based. Total 130 apparently healthy adults of age between 25-65 years, were recruited with prior ethical approval and written informed consent.

RESULTS: Serum magnesium was found to be negatively correlated with fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin level and HOMA-IR. Co-relation of magnesium with FBS (r = -0.55, p<0.0001), insulin (r = -0.45, p< 0.0001) and HOMA-IR (r = -0.52, p<0.0001) was significant.

CONCLUSION: As per findings it was concluded that serum magnesium was found to have significant negative correlation with fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin and HOMA-IR, thus hypomagnesaemia can be suggested to be one of the important predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus.