TOPLINE:
Higher urinary magnesium loss, as indicated by an elevated magnesium depletion score (MDS), may be an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome in US adults.
METHODOLOGY:
- Increasing evidence suggests that chronic hypomagnesemia may play a role in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders, including overweight and obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.
- Researchers examined the relationship between magnesium status and metabolic syndrome in 15,565 US adults (mean age, 47 years; half women) participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2018), of whom 5438 had metabolic syndrome (mean age, 55 years).
- Magnesium deficiency was predicted by MDS, a four-factor score that aggregates diuretic use (one point), proton pump inhibitor (one point), kidney function (estimated glomerular filtration rate; one or two points), and heavy (one point).
- MDS was categorized into six levels (by scores 0-5), with a higher MDS indicating a more severe magnesium deficiency.
- Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III report.
TAKEAWAY:
- The proportion of patients with MDS ≥ 2 was higher in the group with vs without metabolic syndrome (P < .05).
- Even after adjusting for potential confounding factors, each 1-unit increase in the MDS increased the odds of metabolic syndrome by about 30% (adjusted odds ratio, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.17-1.45).
- A dose-response relationship was observed between MDS and metabolic syndrome, with MDS level 1 being associated with 1.28-fold higher odds of metabolic syndrome (95% CI, 1.06-1.55) than MDS level 0; further escalation in the odds was noted for MDS levels 2, 3, and 4.
- The association between metabolic syndrome and MDS remained consistent across all population subgroups defined by age, gender, race (except Mexican American), body mass index, drinking status, or smoking status.
IN PRACTICE:
“It is possible to prevent and reduce MetS [metabolic syndrome] by supplementing with magnesium supplements or encouraging higher magnesium intake diet because the diet is a factor that can be changed,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Xiaohao Wang, Department of Geriatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology (Shenzhen People’s Hospital), Shenzhen, China. It was published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
LIMITATIONS:
The study found no significant link between MDS level 5 and metabolic syndrome, likely due to the small sample size at this level. The study could not draw any causal relationship between metabolic syndrome and MDS owing to its cross-sectional nature. It also could not determine whether MDS was a better marker of magnesium deficiency than serum magnesium levels. MDS is a categorical, not continuous, variable.
DISCLOSURES:
This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen City, China. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.