Serum and urinary magnesium, calcium and copper levels in insulin-dependent diabetic women.

Abstract

Eighteen insulin-dependent diabetic (IDD) and 15 healthy control women participated in a study of the relationship between glycemic control or renal function measurements and the levels of magnesium, calcium and copper in the serum and urine. In the IDD women glycosylated hemoglobin averaged 9.8 +/- 0.5% and the fasting plasma glucose was 1.89 +/- 0.19 g/L. The glomerular filtration rate, approximated from creatinine clearance, averaged 125 +/- 16 ml/min in the IDD women in comparison to 82 +/- 4 ml/min in the controls. IDD women had lower serum (p less than 0.001) and higher urinary (p less than 0.01) magnesium levels than did the controls; serum and urinary copper levels and serum ceruloplasmin levels all were higher (p less than 0.01) in the IDD women. There was no difference in either serum or urinary calcium levels between the two groups. In the IDD women serum magnesium was related to urinary glucose (r = -0.758, p less than 0.01) and to glycosylated hemoglobin (r = -0.603, p less than 0.01); none of the other measurements of serum or urinary minerals was related to measures of glucose control. Urinary calcium and copper levels, but not urinary magnesium, were correlated with the glomerular filtration rate (r = 0.476, p less than 0.05 and r = 0.554, p less than 0.05, respectively). The results of this study suggest that IDD alters the utilization of magnesium, calcium, and copper, but that these three minerals are not affected in the same way by physiological changes associated with the disease.