Trace elements in blood cells of diabetic subjects.

The majority of zinc, copper and magnesium is either intracellular or associated with the bones. It is therefore unlikely that the plasma concentration of these trace elements will reflect their whole body content. Blood cells might be more representative of lean tissue and are also easy to obtain. The concentration of zinc, copper and magnesium was measured in the leukocytes and hemoglobin of 42 subjects with non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and in 22 subjects with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and was compared with that of 44 age-matched healthy volunteers. Zinc was found to be deficient in the serum (p less than 0.001), leukocyte (p less than 0.001) and hemoglobin (p less than 0.05) of the IDDM subjects, while copper and magnesium were increased in the serum, leukocytes and hemoglobin of the IDDM subjects (p less than 0.001). There was no zinc deficiency in the leukocytes of NIDD subjects. These results are opposite to the findings on zinc concentration in various tissue of animal models for IDDM and NIDDM and with our present knowledge on zinc status in IDDM and NIDDM subjects. Thus, we conclude that the concentration of zinc in blood cells of diabetic subjects might not reflect its concentration in various tissues.