Associations of Serum Magnesium with Brain Morphology and Subclinical Cerebrovascular Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Neurocognitive Study.

Aniqa B Alam,Alvaro Alonso,Pamela L Lutsey,Srishti Shrestha,Danashia S Thomas

doi:10.3390/nu13124496

Abstract

Circulating magnesium has been associated with a lower risk of dementia, but the physiologic effects by which magnesium may prevent neurological insults remain unclear. We studied 1466 individuals (mean age 76.2 ± 5.3, 28.8% black, 60.1% female) free of prevalent stroke, with measured serum magnesium and with available MRI scans obtained in 2011–2013, participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study (ARIC-NCS). Cross-sectional differences in frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobe volume, along with deep grey matter, total brain, and white matter hyperintensity volume across serum magnesium (categorized into quintiles and per standard deviation increases) were assessed using multiple linear regression. We also examined associations of magnesium with the prevalence of cortical, subcortical, and lacunar infarcts using multiple logistic regression. After adjusting for demographics, biomarkers, medications, and cardiometabolic risk factors, higher circulating magnesium was associated with greater total brain volume and frontal, temporal, and parietal lobe volumes (volumes 0.14 to 0.19 standard deviations higher comparing Q5 to Q1). Elevated magnesium was also associated with lower odds of subcortical infarcts (OR (95%CI): 0.44 (0.25, 0.77) comparing Q5 to Q1) and lacunar infarcts (OR (95%CI): 0.40 (0.22, 0.71) comparing Q5 to Q1). Elevated serum magnesium was cross-sectionally associated with greater brain volumes and lower odds of subclinical cerebrovascular disease, suggesting beneficial effects on pathways related to neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular damage. Further exploration through prospective analyses is needed to assess increasing circulating magnesium as a potential neuroprotective intervention.

Highlights

IntroductionMagnesium serves multiple functions in the body, including involvement in cognition
The 1466 participants included in this analysis had a mean age of 76.2 years (SD: 5.3), were 28.8% black and 60.1% female. Those with higher serum magnesium were more educated, more likely to be white and less likely to suffer from hypertension and diabetes (Table 1)
Within this community-based cohort, we found cross-sectional associations of elevated serum magnesium with greater total brain volume and the volume of most specific brain lobes

Summary

Introduction

Magnesium serves multiple functions in the body, including involvement in cognition. The mineral has been associated with lower risk of dementia in community-based studies [1,2] and has shown neuroprotective effects in animal models of dementia [3,4], but the exact mechanisms through which magnesium may prevent neurological insults remain unclear. Magnesium deficiency has been linked with increased risk of hypertension [5], cardiovascular diseases [6], and thrombosis [7], which are established risk factors for dementia [8]. The cutoff for hypomagnesemia varies across the literature, but typically ranges from. 0.60 mmol/L to 0.66 mmol/L [9,10]. Magnesium promotes the synthesis of nitric oxide, 4.0/)

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion