title: Lower serum magnesium is associated with vascular calcification in peritoneal dialysis patients: a cross sectional study.
abstract: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is highly prevalent among dialysis patients and is associated with increased cardiovascular and all cause mortality. Magnesium (Mg) inhibits vascular calcification in animal and in-vitro studies but whether the same effect occurs in humans is uncertain.
  
  
  
  A single centre cross-sectional study of 80 prevalent peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients; on PD only for a minimum of 3 months. A radiologist blinded to patient status calculated their abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) scores on lateral lumbar spine radiographs, a validated surrogate for CAC.
  
  
  
  Eighty patients provided informed consent and underwent lumbar spine radiography. The mean serum Mg was 0.8 mmol/L (standard deviation 0.2) and mean AAC score 8.9 (minimum 0, maximum 24). A higher serum Mg level was associated with a lower AAC score (R2= 0.06, unstandardized coefficient [B] = -7.81, p = 0.03), and remained after adjustment for age, serum phosphate, serum parathyroid hormone, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking history, and diabetes (model adjusted R2= 0.36, serum Mg and AAC score B = -11.44, p = 0.00). This translates to a 0.1 mmol/L increase in serum Mg being independently associated with a 1.1-point decrease in AAC score.
  
  
  
  Our findings suggest that Mg may inhibit vascular calcification. If this association is replicated across larger studies with serial Mg and vascular calcification measurements, interventions that increase serum Mg and their effect on vascular calcification warrant further investigation in the PD population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Amber O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mohan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biyani
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.|Department of Medical Imaging, The Ottawa Hospital Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: John Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Harmon
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lavoie
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Brendan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.|Kidney Research Centre, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Manish M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sood
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.|Department of Medical Imaging, The Ottawa Hospital Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pena
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. dzimmerman@toh.on.ca.|Kidney Research Centre, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada. dzimmerman@toh.on.ca.|The Ottawa Hospital, Riverside Campus 1967 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 7W9. dzimmerman@toh.on.ca.
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis; D011859:Radiography; D012307:Risk Factors; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D008274:Magnesium
keywords: Magnesium; Peritoneal dialysis; Vascular calcification