Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jul;17(7):607-14.

Effects of oral magnesium supplementation on inflammatory markers in middle-aged overweight women

Nazanin Moslehi  1 , Mohammadreza Vafa, Abbas Rahimi-Foroushani, Banafsheh Golestan
Affiliations

Effects of oral magnesium supplementation on inflammatory markers in middle-aged overweight women

Nazanin Moslehi et al. J Res Med Sci. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate whether magnesium supplementation might affect serum magnesium, high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), plasma fibrinogen, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels in healthy middle-aged overweight women. The relationships, if any, between serum magnesium and the inflammatory markers were also examined cross-sectionally in the entire participants at the beginning of the study.

Materials and methods: This double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized trial included 74 middle-aged overweight women. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 250 mg magnesium as magnesium oxide or placebo daily for 8 weeks. Serum magnesium, hs-CRP, fibrinogen and IL-6 concentrations were measured before and after the intervention.

Results: Serum magnesium was found to be inversely correlated with hs-CRP (rs =-0.22, P=0.05) in the entire participants at baseline. Serum hs-CRP declined significantly in both groups as compared with baseline values (median change=0.8 mg/L; PMagnesium= 0.03, PPlacebo < 0.001). Plasma fibrinogen decreased significantly, by 9%, in the magnesium group at the end of week 8 compared to baseline (P=0.001). Mean concentration of IL-6 was significantly increased in the magnesium group comparing the baseline value(P=0.001). However hs-CRP, fibrinogen and IL-6 levels at week 8 or any changes during the study were not statistically different between the two groups. Serum magnesium showed no significant changes in any groups.

Conclusions: Serum magnesium had a significant inverse correlation with hs-CRP. In the present study, magnesium as magnesium oxide, 250 mg/day, for 8 weeks did not significantly attenuate inflammatory markers in the magnesium group as compared to the placebo.

Keywords: IL-6; Magnesium; hs-CRP; middle-aged women; overweight; systemic inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

References

    1. Gallagher M. The nutrients and their metabolism. In: Mahan LK, Escott-Stump S, editors. Krause's food & nutrition therapy. 12th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2008. pp. 110–3.
    1. Ford ES, Mokdad AH. Dietary magnesium intake in a national sample of US adults. J Nutr. 2003;133:2879–82. - PubMed
    1. King DE, Mainous AG, Geesey ME, Woolson RF. Dietary magnesium and C-reactive protein levels. J Am Coll Nutr. 2005;24:166–71. - PubMed
    1. Schulze MB, Schulz M, Heidemann C, Schienkiewitz A, Hoffmann K, Boeing H. Fiber and magnesium intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes: a prospective study and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:956–65. - PubMed
    1. Villegas R, Gao YT, Dai Q, Yang G, Cai H, Li H, et al. Dietary calcium and magnesium intakes and the risk of type 2 diabetes: the Shanghai Women's Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89:1059–67. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources