Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic, progressive illness that causes considerable morbidity and premature mortality. More people are still having tendency to use herbal or alternative remedies. Zinc is a trace mineral which may be effective in diabetic patients. We evaluated the effect of zinc sulfate on biochemical markers of type 2 diabetic patients. In a randomized, controlled trial on diabetic subjects, forty patients received randomly either 660mg zinc sulfate or placebo for six weeks. Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, Fasting Bood Sugar, 2-h postprandial glucose, Glycated hemoglobin, Triglyceride, cholesterol, low - density lipoproteins, high - density lipoproteins were checked before and six weeks after beginning of the study. HbA1C, BMI and Blood Pressure were measured after 12 weeks to evaluate the long term effect of drugs. The mean age of patients was 52.67±8.60. level of FBS, 2HPP, HbA1C decreased after six week treatment with zinc sulfate but it was not statistically significant. Due to zinc sulfate administration, significant decrease occurred in TG (P=0.005), chol (p=0.02), LDL (0.0.1) and systolic blood pressure (p=0.02). HDL was increased but it was not significant. No statistically significant differences were found prior to and after zinc treatment in BMI and diastolic blood pressure. After 12 weeks, there was a significant decrease in HbA1C (P=0.04) with zinc sulfate consumption. Zinc sulfate consumption in addition to other nutritional and pharmacological treatments in type 2 diabetic patients could be effective in lipid profile. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2008.