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The effect of oral magnesium supplementation on serum C-reactive protein

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, page 408 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

We read the research of Dibaba et al.1 with great interest. We believe that this is a well-conducted meta-analysis and systematic review that indicates that dietary magnesium (Mg) intake is significantly and inversely associated with the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level. We really appreciate the work that was carried out by the authors. The results of this study may have important public health and clinical implications. However, after reading, there are some worthwhile issues that need to be explored.

In the last paragraph of the results, the authors concluded that five Mg intervention studies reported significant inverse association between Mg supplementation and serum CRP levels. However, then the authors clearly clarified that only two intervention studies showed a significantly decreased level of CRP after the intervention.2, 3 The rest of the three studies did not find a significant association between Mg supplementation and CRP levels4, 5 or indicated a nonsignificant difference between the Mg supplementation group and the placebo group.6 For the reader, this may lead to some confusion. We are not sure whether the qualitative summary of these five intervention studies could support the positive conclusion. This part needs further explanation.

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References

  1. Dibaba DT, Xun P, He K . Dietary magnesium intake is inversely associated with serum C-reactive protein levels: meta-analysis and systematic review. Eur J Clin Nutr 2014; 68: 510–516.

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  6. Chacko SA, Sul J, Song Y, Li X, LeBlanc J, You Y et al. Magnesium supplementation, metabolic and inflammatory markers, and global genomic and proteomic profiling: a randomized, doubleblind, controlled, crossover trial in overweight individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 2011; 93: 463–473.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

    C Zeng, H Li & G-h Lei

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  1. C Zeng
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  2. H Li
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  3. G-h Lei
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Correspondence to G-h Lei.

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Zeng, C., Li, H. & Lei, Gh. The effect of oral magnesium supplementation on serum C-reactive protein. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 408 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.274

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