Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common metabolic diseases in humans. The blood concentrations of various trace elements, such as copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo), are altered in diabetes mellitus, which may have a significant role in the pathogenesis and progress of this disease. This study was aimed to evaluate the levels of copper and molybdenum concentrations in diabetic patients and healthy subjects. A total of 87 patients with type 2 diabetes and 45 participants with normal blood glucose were included in this study. The blood levels of Cu and Mo concentrations were measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GF-AAS). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 19.0 software. Biochemical factors were compared using student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed a significant increase in mean Cu level in diabetic patients (394.11 ± 10.08) compared to healthy subjects (134.34 ± 3.66), however a significant decrease was found in mean Mo level in diabetic patients (8.41 ± 0.141) compared to healthy subjects (16.45 ± 0.72). Statistical analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the concentrations of each element with diabetes. The study indicates that type 2 diabetes can alter the blood levels of copper and molybdenum. The results of this study confirmed that the level of copper in diabetic patients is higher than healthy subjects, and that the level of molybdenum in diabetic patients is lower than that of healthy subjects. In addition, increasing or decreasing the copper concentration has no significant effect on the concentration of molybdenum in diabetic patients, meaning that there is no significant correlation between the two variables in diabetic patients

In this study, the concentrations of Cu and Mo were investigated using a GF-AAS in the blood of 132 samples including 87 diabetic patients and 45 healthy subjects. The results showed an increasing in Cu level in diabetic patients compared to healthy subjects and decreasing in Mo in diabetic patients compared to healthy subjects. There was no significant relationship between Cu and Mo levels in the blood. It seems that Cu and Mo are two important factors in patients with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, according to the present study, the concentration of Mo and Cu affects the whole blood. The consumption of foods that are rich in Mo, or the administration of supplements containing Mo in cases of its deficiency can be beneficial. In addition, Cu plays an important role in peroxidation mechanisms, and disruption of these mechanisms leads to increased oxidative damage to tissue and progression of diabetes. Therefore, prescribing medications that cause more Cu metabolism and avoid of eating foods with high Cu is recommended. Since, evaluation of these two elements have not been studied at the same time so far, wider studies and the using of more number of samples can further prove the synergistic effect or the lack of their synergistic effect on each other. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the precise role of these elements in the pathogenesis and involved mechanisms of type 2 diabetes. It seems that there is a need to pay more attention to the metabolism of these elements in patients with type 2.