Plasma magnesium and retinopathy in black African diabetics

Observations in Caucasian diabetics have linked hypomagnesaemia as being an additional risk factor for the development of retinopathy which is a major microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus. We estimated fasting plasma magnesium concentrations in 82 non-insulin-dependent Nigerian diabetics with normal renal function and 48 healthy subjects. The diabetic patients were divided into two subgroups according to the presence (n = 25) or absence (n = 57) of retinopathy. Both diabetic subgroups were comparable regarding their metabolic control, body mass index and duration of diabetes. Hypomagnesaemia was observed in the diabetic patients as a whole and in the diabetic subgroups with and without retinopathy; however these levels were not of statistical significance when compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, when the two diabetic subgroups were compared, no significant differences were observed in the magnesium concentrations. Our data suggests that hypomagnesaemia may not be associated with the occurrence of retinopathy in black African diabetics.