Hafeezullah, Khem A Karira, Nauman Aziz Khatri, Joachim W Herzig.
Hypomagnesaemia related to Lipids and Lipoproteins in Hypertension
Pak Armed Forces Med J Jun 1999;49(1):11-4.
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi, Peoples Medical College & Hospital, Nawabshah

Hypertension is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. Hence, there has been an increasing interest in effects of calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg) on blood pressure. Magnesium has numerous physiological roles, most importantly in regulation of vasomotor tone, blood pressure and peripheral blood flow. A decrease in serum Mg levels leads to increased cellular Ca++ concentration and vasoconstriction. Mg may also have a direct effect on vascular smooth muscle. An inverse correlation between serum Mg concentration and blood pressure has been found. We carried out a study to investigate serum Mg concentrations in hypertensive patients and normotensive healthy controls in the local population of Sindh (Karachi and Nawabshah). The study was planned at the Basic Medical Sciences Institute, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi. For this study, 200 known cases of hypertension were selected from the Out Patient Department and Emergency Wards of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi, and Peoples Medical College & Hospital, Nawabshah. Besides this, 100 healthy volunteers of the same age group as that of the patients were selected from the localities of both hospitals as controls. Blood pressure was measured by a sphygmomanometer. The serum samples were analyzed for magnesium, triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) by colorimetric methods. The results indicate that serum Mg levels are significantly lower in hypertensive patients as compared to control (P<0.05). The serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, VLDL and LDL-cholesterol were found to be higher in hypomagnesaemic cases while serum HDL was found to be markedly lower. The difference was significant (P < 0.001). It has been suggested that some forms of hypertension could be due to the direct effects of a hypomagnesaemic state on arteriolar and venular tone. Hypomagnesaemia could produce progressive vasoconstriction of arterioles, precapillary sphincters and venules in the microcirculation and this would eventually increase the overall systemic vascular resistance, curtail capillary blood flow, and result in hypertensive disease. Thus it is concluded that the serum Mg level has an inverse correlation with blood pressure and circulating triglycerides and cholesterol.

Category: Internal Medicine
Keywords: Hypertension. Hypomagnesaemia. Cholesterol.

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