Serum magnesium and visfatin levels in newly diagnosed non-obese type 2 diabetes without insulin resistance: a cross-sectional study

Background. Previous studies demonstrated that type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients have low serum magnesium and high serum levels of visfatin. This study aimed to show the relationship between serum levels of insulin, visfatin, and magnesium in T2D patients characterized by a non-insulin resistance status. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Hawler Medical University, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from April 2019 to March 2020. A total number of 130 T2D patients and 45 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. T2D patients with scores of homeostasis model assessment - insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) of < 2.5 were included. Serum levels of magnesium, visfatin, and glycemic indices, including fasting serum glucose, insulin, visfatin, and glycated hemoglobin were determined. Results. The serum level of visfatin is significantly higher in T2D patients than the corresponding values of the healthy subjects. Serum magnesium level is significantly correlated with the percentage of the glycated hemoglobin (Spearman's correlation factor = 0.184, P = 0.036), and a positive significant correlation between serum insulin and visfatin (r = 0.216, P = 0.014) was observed. Multivariate regression analysis of the association of fasting serum insulin as a dependent variable with serum magnesium and visfatin as independent variables showed a non-significant positive correlation (r = 0.197, P = 0.082). Conclusion. Significant low serum levels of magnesium and visfatin are observed in non-insulin resistant T2D patients with a HOMA-IR score of < 2.5. Serum visfatin and magnesium levels showed significant correlations with glycemic indices.