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Improved Magnesium Levels in Morbidly Obese Diabetic and Non-diabetic Patients After Modest Weight Loss

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Abstract

Serum magnesium (Mg) is reported to be reduced in individuals with obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus and has been suggested as a marker for metabolic syndrome. We have studied changes in serum Mg concentrations in a group of obese patients (n = 92) with and without diabetes mellitus after weight loss induced by dieting and bariatric surgery. At inclusion, 11% (10/92) of the population had severe Mg deficiency (< 0.75 mmol/L) and median serum Mg was lower in diabetic (n = 20) compared to non-diabetic (n = 72) patients (p = 0.002). A weight loss of 10 kg after 8 weeks of lifestyle interventions was accompanied by increased serum Mg of about 5% in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Serum Mg remained stable thereafter in the non-diabetic patients, while it continued to increase in the diabetic patients after bariatric surgery. Six months after bariatric surgery, there was no significant difference in serum Mg concentration between the groups (p = 0.08). The optimal range of circulating Mg concentration is not known, but as even small increments in serum Mg are reported to lower the risk of cardiovascular and ischemic heart disease, our results are interesting in a public health perspective.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all participants for their willingness to participate in the study and the laboratory staff at Innlandet Hospital Trust, Norway, for perfoming the biochemical analyses.

Funding

The study was supported by grants from Innlandet Hospital Trust, Norway.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Lillehammer, Norway

    Solveig Meyer Mikalsen & Jon Elling Whist

  2. Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021, Bergen, Norway

    Anne-Lise Bjørke-Monsen

  3. Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Anne-Lise Bjørke-Monsen

  4. Department of Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway

    Jon Elling Whist & Jan Aaseth

  5. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway

    Jan Aaseth

Authors
  1. Solveig Meyer Mikalsen
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  2. Anne-Lise Bjørke-Monsen
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  3. Jon Elling Whist
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  4. Jan Aaseth
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Contributions

S Meyer Mikalsen and A-L Bjørke-Monsen analyzed the data and wrote the paper, J.E. Whist revised the paper, and J Aaseth wrote the paper. All authors approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Solveig Meyer Mikalsen.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval of the protocol was obtained by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK), Region South-East, Norway, ref. number 2012/1394. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients before enrolment.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Mikalsen, S.M., Bjørke-Monsen, AL., Whist, J.E. et al. Improved Magnesium Levels in Morbidly Obese Diabetic and Non-diabetic Patients After Modest Weight Loss. Biol Trace Elem Res 188, 45–51 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1349-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1349-3

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