To analyze Mg, Ca, and Zn levels in saliva, comparing patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a control group of healthy subjects. This transversal, observational, clinical study included a total sample of 147 patients, 74 with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a control group of 73 healthy subjects. Socio-demographic, anthropometric, diabetological, and metabolic variables were registered. Trace elements in non-stimulated basal saliva were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS): Mg, Ca, and Zn. Concentrations of zinc, calcium, and magnesium were significantly higher in the diabetic group than the control group (p < 0.001). A relation was observed between waist circumference and high cardiovascular risk in men (based on two categories: waist circumference < 102 cm; waist circumference ≥ 102 cm), and magnesium levels in saliva (p = 0.003). Magnesium, zinc, and calcium levels in saliva could be useful markers for differentiating patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from non-diabetics. The salivary magnesium could be used as a marker of high cardiovascular risk when associated with abdominal obesity represented by a waist circumference ≥ 102 cm in men. The present results do suggest that salivary zinc levels could act as a good marker of type 2 diabetes mellitus, in light of zinc's well-known role as a co-marker of insulin and its relationship to carbohydrate metabolism.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.