Serum Magnesium is associated with Carotid Atherosclerosis in patients with high cardiovascular risk (CORDIOPREV Study).

Abstract

This study aimed to ascertain whether there is an independent association between serum magnesium (Mg) and the Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (IMT-CC), a well-accepted atherosclerotic-biomarker surrogate of cardiovascular disease (CVD), in a population with high cardiovascular risk. Serum Mg and traditional atherosclerotic risk factors were recorded in 939 patients (mean age, 59.6 ± 0.3 years, 83.2% men) with coronary heart disease (CHD) enrolled in the CORDIOPREV trial. Serum Mg strongly associated with IMT-CC. Before adjusting for potential confounding factors, IMT-CC decreased by 0.111 ± 0.011 mm per mg/dl increase in serum Mg (p <0.001). After adjustment, the efect of Mg did not appear mediated through factors related to glucose metabolism, the lipid profle or the mineral metabolism and renal function. Multivariate models showed the lower Mg levels (quartile 1) as a strong independent factor contributing to IMT-CC along with age, sex, SBP, HDL-C, and diuretic use. Logistic regression analysis confrmed the predictive ability of serum Mg to diferentiate patients at higher atherosclerotic risk as defned by an IMT-CC≥1.0mm, yielding a OR for the lower quartile of 10.623 (95%CI 2.311–48.845; P=0.002) and a ROC-derived cutof of 1.61mg/dl. Therefore, our fndings outline low serum magnesium as a possible independent risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis