Serum magnesium and calcium levels in relation to ischemic stroke

Larsson, S. C. et al. (2019) Serum magnesium and calcium levels in relation to ischemic stroke. Neurology, 92(9), e944-e950. (doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007001) (PMID:30804065) (PMCID:PMC6404465)

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether serum magnesium and calcium concentrations are causally associated with ischemic stroke or any of its subtypes using the mendelian randomization approach. Methods: Analyses were conducted using summary statistics data for 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms robustly associated with serum magnesium (n = 6) or serum calcium (n = 7) concentrations. The corresponding data for ischemic stroke were obtained from the MEGASTROKE consortium (34,217 cases and 404,630 noncases). Results: In standard mendelian randomization analysis, the odds ratios for each 0.1 mmol/L (about 1 SD) increase in genetically predicted serum magnesium concentrations were 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69–0.89; p = 1.3 × 10−4) for all ischemic stroke, 0.63 (95% CI 0.50–0.80; p = 1.6 × 10−4) for cardioembolic stroke, and 0.60 (95% CI 0.44–0.82; p = 0.001) for large artery stroke; there was no association with small vessel stroke (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.67–1.20; p = 0.46). Only the association with cardioembolic stroke was robust in sensitivity analyses. There was no association of genetically predicted serum calcium concentrations with all ischemic stroke (per 0.5 mg/dL [about 1 SD] increase in serum calcium: odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.88–1.21) or with any subtype. Conclusions: This study found that genetically higher serum magnesium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of cardioembolic stroke but found no significant association of genetically higher serum calcium concentrations with any ischemic stroke subtype.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Professors Walters, Ford, Sattar and Stott are coinvestigators of the MEGASTROKE Consortium.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Stott J, Professor David and Sattar, Professor Naveed and Ford, Professor Ian and Walters, Professor Matthew
• Authors: Larsson, S. C., Traylor, M., Burgess, S., Boncoraglio, G. B., Jern, C., Michaëlsson, K., Markus, H. S., Walters, M., Ford, I., Sattar, N., and Stott, D. J.
• Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: Neurology
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• ISSN: 0028-3878
• ISSN (Online): 1526-632X
• Published Online: 25 January 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Neurology 92(9): e944-e950
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License