A Comparison of Serum Magnesium Level in Pregnant Women with and without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM)

Intracellular magnesium is a cofactor for several enzymes in carbohydrate metabolism. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the role of magnesium as an effective and an underlying factor in disrupted glucose metabolism among pregnant women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
This cross-sectional was conducted among 24-32 weeks pregnant women admitted to gynecology clinic of Ayatollah Rohani Hospital in Babol. Patients were divided into four groups: healthy pregnant women, pregnant women with high-risk gestational diabetes, pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus and pregnant women with overt diabetes. The demographic information was gathered using a questionnaire and the serum level, magnesium RBC and the fasting blood sugar were measured by laboratory methods and were compared between the four groups.
FINDINGS: 399 patients with mean age of 26.53±5.54 participated in this study. Overall, mean serum magnesium level was 1.71±0.12 mg/dL and magnesium level in RBC was 4.88±0.29 mg/dL. The mean serum magnesium level was 1.73±0.10 in healthy pregnant women, 1.73±0.12 in pregnant women with high-risk gestational diabetes, 1.71±0.13 in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus and 1.64±0.15 in pregnant women with overt diabetes and there was a significant difference between the four groups (p=0.001). The result regarding RBC magnesium level was found to be 5.12±0.18, 4.81±0.23, 4.77±0.24 and 4.66±0.38 in healthy pregnant women, pregnant women with high-risk gestational diabetes, pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus and pregnant women with overt diabetes, respectively, which was significant (p=0.001). Serum level and RBC magnesium in diabetic women was less than non-diabetic women.
Results of the study demonstrated that magnesium could be an effective and an underlying factor in identification of disrupted glucose metabolism in pregnant women.