Comparison of Serum Zinc Level in Patients with Diabetes Type 1 and 2 and Itsʹʹ Relation to HbA1c

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major health care problem. The relationship between DM and zinc has frequently been reported in various research. The present study aims to investigate serum zinc level in patients with type 1 (IDDM) and type 2 (NIDDM). Association between glyaceted hemoglobin and level of zinc is also evaluted. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 60 subjects with DM (Type l: N=30; Type 2: N=30) who met inclusion criteria of the study. Patients’ serum zinc level and HbA1c were measured. Data were analyzed using t-test and Mann-Withney U test. Results: Seventy five percent of the subjects were female. The average age of the IDDM was 15.36±5.28 years and that of NIDDM was 48.70±11.45 years. The average HbA1c of subjects was 8.06±1.64%. The average serum level of zinc in IDDM group was 95.82±14.51 mg/dl and that of NIDDM was 97.47±32.36 mg/dl, no significant difference was found between the two groups. Serum zinc difficiency was detected in 20% of the patients with NIDDM and 16.6% of the patients with IDDM. However, no significant correlation between HbA1c and serum level of zinc was detected in this study. Conclusion: Zinc deficiency was detected among a significant percentage of IDDM and NIDDM patients, but no significant correlation between serum zinc level and HbA1c was detected.