Magnesium-Zinc-Calcium-Vitamin D Combination Improves Gestational Diabetes

by | Oct 14, 2019 | 2019, Diabetes, Pregnancy and Lactation, Women's Health

Written by Joyce Smith, BS. Study findings demonstrated that a six-week co-supplementation with magnesium-zinc-calcium-vitamin D significantly reduced biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

pregnancyIn a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial 8, 60 women with gestational diabetes were randomly assigned to a 6-week daily supplementation of 100 mg magnesium, 4 mg zinc, 400 mg calcium, and 200 IU of vitamin D (all of which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties on pregnancy outcomes among women with gestational diabetes) or a placebo. In addition, all women took 1000 IU of vitamin D3 and 400 ug of vitamin B9 daily from the beginning of pregnancy and 60 mg of ferrous sulfate daily from the beginning of the second semester through to term. They maintained their dietary habits and physical activity during the trial.  A 3-day food record as well as three physical activity records at weeks 0, 3 and 6 of the study were maintained by all participants. Primary outcomes were high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and plasma total nitrite levels; secondary outcomes were biomarkers of oxidative stress and pregnancy outcomes.

Compared to the placebo, magnesium-zinc-calcium-vitamin D co-supplementation resulted in:

  • A significant increases in serum magnesium (P=0.002), zinc (P<0.001),  vitamin D (P=0.001)
  • A significant reduction in serum hs-CRP, a biomarker for inflammation (− 1.2 ± 3.5 vs. + 0.8 ± 2.0 mg/L, P = 0.01)
  • A significant reduction in plasma malondialdehyde concentrations (− 0.3 ± 0.3 vs. + 0.3 ± 1.1 μmol/L, P = 0.003), a biomarker for oxidative stress.
  • A significant increase in total antioxidant capacity levels (+ 38.2 ± 76.5 vs.-16.3 ± 93.5 mmol/L, P = 0.01)
  • A decreasing trend in both the newborns’ weight (3089.8 ± 519.9 vs. 3346.3 ± 411.1 g, P = 0.05) and the rate of macrosomia (3.3% vs. 16.7%, P = 0.08)

These results demonstrate the significant benefits of magnesium-zinc-calcium-vitamin D co-supplementation for women with GDM; however, the results should be validated with future studies of longer duration and larger participant numbers.

Source: Jamilian, Mehri, Naghmeh Mirhosseini, Masoumeh Eslahi, Fereshteh Bahmani, Maryam Shokrpour, Maryam Chamani, and Zatollah Asemi. “The effects of magnesium-zinc-calcium-vitamin D co-supplementation on biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress and pregnancy outcomes in gestational diabetes.” BMC pregnancy and childbirth 19, no. 1 (2019): 107.

© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

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Posted October 14, 2019.

Joyce Smith, BS, is a degreed laboratory technologist. She received her bachelor of arts with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biology from  the University of Saskatchewan and her internship through the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She currently resides in Bloomingdale, IL.

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