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World J Diabetes. Aug 25, 2015; 6(10): 1152-1157
Published online Aug 25, 2015. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v6.i10.1152
Magnesium and type 2 diabetes
Mario Barbagallo, Ligia J Dominguez
Mario Barbagallo, Ligia J Dominguez, Geriatric Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Author contributions: Barbagallo M and Dominguez LJ were responsible for the initial plan, study design, conducting the review, interpretation, manuscript drafting, critical revision of intellectual content, and approval of the version to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors has a conflict of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mario Barbagallo, MD, PhD, Geriatric Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, Italy. mario.barbagallo@unipa.it
Telephone: +39-91-6552885 Fax: +39-91-6552952
Received: April 15, 2015
Peer-review started: April 18, 2015
First decision: May 13, 2015
Revised: June 29, 2015
Accepted: August 16, 2015
Article in press: August 17, 2015
Published online: August 25, 2015
Processing time: 133 Days and 11.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Diabetes is frequently associated with Mg deficit. The fact that most but not all diabetic subjects have low magnesium (Mg) and that no large randomised controlled trial (RCT) has been specifically focused on subjects with Mg deficit, diagnosed with a reliable technique, may help explain discrepancies of the role of supplemental Mg on glycemic control, and the impact on diabetes risk in prospective epidemiological studies. Different baseline Mg, metabolic control, and age are other potential factors that may contribute. Future prospective RCTs are needed to support the potential role of dietary Mg supplementation as a possible public health strategy to reduce diabetes risk in the population.