Keywords

Diabetes; Zinc supplementation; Insulin

Introduction

Diabetes is a common endocrine disease which is caused by abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood. In blood the level of sugar is controlled by a hormone called insulin which is secreted by pancreas and endocrine gland. If production of insulin is low in the body then it causes diabetes. It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Approximately 9% of the population worldwide is affected by diabetes [1]. The prevalence of diabetes has risen from 108 million to 422 million in 1980 to 2014 [2]. There are three types of diabetes:

• Type 1 Diabetes: Pancreas fail to secrete enough insulin due to destruction of β cells which secretes insulin. It is also called juvenile diabetes and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

• Type 2 Diabetes: It is also called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. In which the secretion of insulin is less and cells fail to respond to insulin.

• Gestational Diabetes: It occurs in pregnancy due to high sugar level in blood.

Symptoms of diabetes include excessive urination, increased thirst and hunger, weight loss, slow wound healing, skin problems, numbness in feet. It may cause many severe health complications if not treated on time include cardiovascular disease, stroke, severe kidney diseases, eye damage, diabetic ketoacidosis [1,3].

Diabetes and Zinc

Zinc levels in serum are decreased in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes because of zinc loss due to excessive urination. It has been shown that supplementation of zinc to Type 2 diabetes patients improve the symptoms of diabetes because it decreases the level of cholesterol and HbA1c levels in blood [4-7]. Around 10 to 20 μM of zinc is concentrated in �� cells of pancreas within the dense core insulin secreting granules. Zinc is essential for storage of insulin and for processing of insulin in the body. In diabetic patients the content of zinc is greatly decreased in the pancreas [8,9]. Low levels of zinc in the blood plasma affect the islets of langerhans to secrete and produce insulin. Zinc also plays important role in the formation of insulin crystals, release of insulin and transport of insulin [10,11].

References

1. World Health Organisation (2013) Diabetes fact sheet.
2. Mathers CD, Loncar D (2006) Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLOS Med 3: 2011-2030.
3. Kitabchi AE, Umpierrez GE, Miles JM, Fisher JN (2009) Hyperglycaemic crises in adult patient with diabetes. Diabetes Care 32: 1335-1343.
4. Yazigi A, Hannan N, Raines DA (1993) Effect of diabetic state and related disorders on the urinary excretion of magnesium and zinc in patients. Diabetes Res 22: 67-75.
5. Garg VK, Gupta R, Goyal RK (1994) Hypozincemia in diabetes mellitus. J Assoc Physicians India 42: 720-721.
6. Basaki M (2012) Zinc, copper, iron and chromium concentrations in young patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Biol Trace Elem Res 148: 161-164.
7. Jansen J (2012) Disturbed zinc homeostasis in diabetic patients by in vitro and in vivo analysis of insulinomimetic activity of zinc. J Nutr Biochem 23: 1458-1466.
8. Hutton JC, Penn EJ, Peshavaria M (1983) Low molecular weight constituents of isolated insulin secretory granules. Bivalent cations, adenine nucleotides and inorganic phosphate. Biochem J 210: 525-305.
9. Foster MC (1993) Elemental composition of secretory granules in pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Biophys J 64: 525-532.
10. Rungby J (2010) Zinc, zinc transporters and diabetes. Diabetologia 53: 1549-1551.
11. Emdin SO, Dodson GG, Cutfield JM, Outfield SM (1980) Role of zinc on insulin biosynthesis. Some possible zinc-insulin interactions in the pancreatic B-cells. Diabetologia 19: 174-182.