Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology

The metabolism of several trace elements is altered in diabetes mellitus (DM). The present study investigates serum levels of lipid profile and lipid per-oxidation as well as levels of Mg, Cu, Ni, Co, Mn, Cr, Se, V and Zn, in 72 males with non- insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 21 non-diabetic healthy control subjects using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results showed highly significant increase in serum concentrations of LDL-C, TG and Cholesterol in T2DM patients in comparison with non-diabetic subjects (P<0.001).  The levels of Zn, Mg and V in male diabetic patients showed significant decline as compared to controls (P<0.001). Also serum Cr and Co showed a significant decrease between non-diabetic subjects and T2DM patients (P<0.05), whereas Ni, Mn and Se showed no significant differences between the control and T2DM patients. The serum Cu level revealed a substantial increase in T2DM patients compared to non-diabetic individuals (P<0.001). Therefore, deficiencies in trace elements and high level of lipid per-oxidation products appear to be possible additional risk factors in the some pathogenesis of type-2 diabetes mellitus and its complications.  In addition, they could be used as markers to evaluate the glycemic control and the lipid status of diabetic patients.