Hypomagnesemia, Poor Glycemic Control and Microalbuminuria as Risk Factors of Diabetic Retinopathy

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a sight threatening complication of diabetes mellitus and is one of the leading causes of acquired blindness in adults. Various precipitating factors such as duration of disease, glycemic control, dyslipidemia, hypomagnesemia and microalbuminuria have been implicated in the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy. This study is an attempt to evaluate the diagnostic value of HbA1c, serum magnesium, microalbuminuria in the onset & progression of Diabetic Retinopathy. Aim: The aim of the study was to find the association between serum magnesium, HbA1c, lipid profile and microalbuminuria in diabetic retinopathy Settings and Design: In this cross-sectional study, 30 diabetic patients with retinopathy, 30 diabetic patients without retinopathy, and 30 age & sex matched controls were selected. Methods and Materials: The serum from these patients was used for the estimation of fasting blood sugar, magnesium, total cholesterol and triglyceride. Two ml of blood, collected in vacutainers containing EDTA was used for the estimation of HbA1c. The random, midstream urine sample (10ml) was collected in sterile containers and assayed for microalbumin and urinary creatinine. Statistical Analysis: The Independent-Samples t-test procedure was used to compare the mean for two groups of cases. The One-Way ANOVA was used for one-way analysis of variance for a quantitative dependent variable by a single factor (independent) variable. The correlation between the parameters was worked out using Pearson’s correlation. p-value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: There was a positive correlation between HbA1c & microalbuminuria (r=0.597) in diabetic patients with retinopathy & negative correlation between serum magnesium & HbA1c (r=-0.611), microalbuminuria (r= -0.437) in diabetic patients with retinopathy. Conclusion: Regular monitoring of all diabetic patients with various biochemical parameters like HbA1c, magnesium & microabuminuria might reduce the onset & progression of microvascular complications.