Pretreatment effect of magnesium on alloxan induced hyperglycemia in rats

The role of vitamins and mineral supplementation in the management of Diabetes mellitus is not well elucidated. We therefore carried out a preliminary study to assess the effect of prior administration of Magnesium on induction of alloxan diabetes, a model of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Twenty Male albino rats were used for this study. The animals were divided into 4 groups of 5 animals each. Animals in group 1 were normal rats and were not given any treatment, these served as healthy control. Animals in group 2 were diabetic rats that were not given any treatment, they served as diabetic control. Animals in group 3 were treated with magnesium (100mg/kg) intraperitoneally one hour prior to alloxan (150mg/kg) administration. Animals in group 4 were given intraperitoneal injection of magnesium (100mg/kg) once, and blood samples were obtained one hour after administration. Blood samples were obtained from all animals after 48 hours and plasma glucose levels determined using the glucose oxidase method. There was significant increase (p<0.001) in plasma glucose level in the alloxan treated group when compared with the control. There was also a significant increase (p<0.01) in magnesium-pretreated diabetic group. However, there was a significant reduction (p<0.01) in blood glucose level 48 hours after alloxan administration in the magnesium pre-treated diabetic group when compared with the diabetic controls. Magnesium pretreatment may delay the onset of alloxan induced hyperglycemia and this may be due to the scavenging effect of magnesium on the highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (OH) which was generated through alloxan reaction.