Commentary on ‘dietary magnesium intake and fracture risk: data from a large prospective study’

• Published in: British journal of nutrition 2017-05, Vol.117 (10), p.1454-1455
• Main Author: Hayhoe, Richard P. G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal models; Arthritis; Biocompatibility; Biomedical materials; Bone density; Bone growth; Bone resorption; Bone turnover; Diet; Dietary intake; Dietary Surveys and Nutritional Epidemiology; Epidemiology; Food; Fractures; Fractures, Bone; Gender differences; Health risk assessment; Humans; Hydroxyapatite; Inflammation; Invited Commentary; Magnesium; Mechanical properties; Mens health; Metabolism; Nutrient deficiency; Nutrients; Nutrition research; Nutritional Status; Osteoclasts; Osteoporosis; Oxidative stress; Parathyroid; Parathyroid hormone; Population; Potassium; Prospective Studies; Public health; Risk; Stiffness; Surgical implants; Ultrasound; Vitamin D; Women
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114517001337

Research studies on this topic have previously mainly focused on Ca and vitamin D intakes, but there has been a growing interest in the role of other nutrients including dietary Mg, for which there is a mechanistic rationale for epidemiological investigation. Bone represents the major body store of Mg, and experimental studies have shown Mg to be involved in bone metabolism, including having nitric-oxide dependent effects on osteoblast activity and osteoclast number, and affecting hydroxyapatite crystal formation and consequent bone stiffness(1). Ca homoeostasis, highly relevant to bone health, is modulated by Mg through parathyroid hormone and vitamin D, and Mg deficiency in animal models promotes pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion and oxidative stress which both stimulate osteoclastic bone resorption(1). (2)thus provides a useful addition to the literature supporting the relevance of dietary intake of Mg to osteoporotic fracture risk and, once reinforced by clinical trial data, raises the prospect of exploiting this relationship in nutritional public health strategies to improve bone health at a population level. (2015 ) Dietary magnesium and potassium intakes and circulating magnesium are associated with heel bone ultrasound attenuation and osteoporotic fracture risk in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort study . Farsinejad-Marj M , Saneei P & Esmaillzadeh A (2016...