Increasing plasma magnesium levels appears to have a positive effect on cardiovascular outcomes in people with chronic kidney disease (CNS). This is what internist-nephrologist Nikki Leenders writes in her dissertation, which she will defend on 14 March at the VU University in Amsterdam.
CNS patients have an increased risk of death, especially from cardiovascular disease. Leenders conducted several studies to find out whether low plasma magnesium concentrations contribute to this increased risk.
Indeed, a meta-analysis of studies examining the association between plasma magnesium concentrations and endpoints found that higher magnesium levels are associated with lower risks of all-cause and cardiovascular death in CNS patients. Subsequently, in a prospective study, Leenders and her colleagues found that hemodialysis treatment reduced the magnesium concentration to about the lower limit of the reference values. They conclude that the magnesium concentration in standard dialysis fluid may be too low. In an RCT, they therefore investigated how the magnesium concentration of hemodialysis fluid can be increased safely. More magnesium in the diet could also play a positive role: Leenders found in an animal model of CNS that less vascular calcification occurred in laboratory animals that were given more magnesium in their diet.
Leenders wrote her thesis ‘Magnesium as novel tool to decrease cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease’ under the supervision of promotors Prof. Dr. Marc Vervloet and Prof. Dr. Joost Hoenderop.
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