Trace minerals and oxidative stress in diabetic retinopathy

Abstract

There is accumulating evidence showing relationship between trace elements and Diabetes mellitus (DM). This study evaluated the role of magnesium, Zinc and other indices of peroxidative status ie MDA, Vitamin C and Vitamin E in pathogenesis of Retinopathy in type 2 diabetes. Seventy two type 2 diabetes cases were enrolled in the study, of which 42 were with retinopathy and 30 without. Patients with nephropathy were excluded. Forty age- and sexmatched subjects were served as health controls. The results showed that the mean values of Mg and Zn were significantly lower reduced in diabetes more so in diabetic retinopathy cases as compared to control subjects (p<0.05). Lipid peroxidation marker MDA was a significantly higher in both the diabetes groups whereas serum Vitamin C and vitamin E levels were significantly low (p<0.05) as compared to controls. Our correlation study revealed that MDA was negatively associated with serum Mg (r=-0.73, p<0.01) as well as serum Zn (r= -0.82, p<0.01), pointing towards the role of these trace elements in retarding the oxidative process prevailing in diabetic retinopathy.