de Baaij · Physiological reviews 2015 · narrative review · n=?

Magnesium in man: implications for health and disease.

Cited 1735 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review of magnesium physiology, genetic disorders, and clinical conditions without systematic search methodology

PubMed 25540137 · doi:10.1152/physrev.00012.2014 · record verified 2026-08-29

What was done

This narrative review summarizes magnesium physiology, homeostatic regulation across the intestine, kidney, and bone, genetic causes of hypomagnesemia (such as mutations in TRPM6, claudin 16, CNNM2, and MagT1), drug-induced causes (including diuretics, EGFR inhibitors, calcineurin inhibitors, and proton pump inhibitors), and clinical roles in human disease.

What was found

The abstract reports that magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation, involved in over 600 enzymatic reactions, and functionally important in the brain, heart, and skeletal muscles. Magnesium supplementation is reported to be beneficial in conditions such as preeclampsia, migraine, depression, coronary artery disease, and asthma. No specific numerical values, effect sizes, or trial statistics are provided in the abstract.

Why it matters

It provides a broad synthesis of magnesium physiology and transport mechanisms, outlining clinical causes of deficiency and identifying multiple diseases where magnesium status or therapy is relevant.

Limits

As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search protocol, study quality appraisal, and meta-analytic synthesis. The abstract provides no quantitative data, sample sizes, dosage details, or direct outcome measures.

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