MAGNESIUM AND ZINC IN SERUM OF PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT DIABETIC RETINOPATHY IN A TERTIARY HEALTH CARE SET-UP IN ASSAM.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine serum magnesium and serum zinc concentrations in diabetic patients without retinopathy and diabetics with non-proliferative retinopathy. Serum magnesium of (2.52 +0.15) mg/dl and serum zinc of (95.18+13.95)?g/dl in patients without retinopathy; and serum magnesium of (2.32+0.11) mg/dl and serum zinc of (68.07+ 9.41)?g/dl in those with retinopathy was observed. For both parameters, the difference was found to be statistically highly significant (p<0.001).Although a cause-effect relationship could not be established; lower magnesium levels in patients with non-proliferative retinopathy could be attributed to the observation by earlier workers that lower magnesium triggers endothelial cell dysfunction and thrombogenesis, causes proinflammatory and pro-fibrogenic response, reduces protective enzymes against oxidative stress, and even leads to defective DNA synthesis and repair.Zinc has also been supposed to have antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory properties and increased oxidative stress contributes to the development of Diabetic Retinopathy; which possibly explained lower zinc concentrations in patients with Diabetic retinopathy. However concrete proof would require follow-up studies of longer duration.