Molecular Impact of Magnesium-Mediated Immune Regulation in Diseases

Magnesium (Mg) is a crucial mineral that is required for maintaining many of the physiological processes, including immune regulation. The immune system is a protective strategy against pathogenic infection, allergic reaction and tumour development. Dysregulation of immune functions results in different pathological conditions, including autoimmune disease, allergic diseases and infectious diseases. Mg plays a role in the modulation of immune responses through the regulation of the activation, proliferation and differentiation of immune cells. Moreover, research has shown that Mg participates in the treatment and prevention of different diseases, so it may serve as a therapeutic drug. Mg immunoregulatory activity and its applications in prevention and treatment of immune-related disorders are discussed herein. Immunosuppression, reduced phagocytosis and suppressed natural killer cell function were associated with low concentrations of Mg, and these are critical for protection against viruses. Mg further affects inflammatory cytokine release and modulation of NF-κB, a key immune signalling cascade. Evidence corroborates that supplementation with Mg might alleviate symptoms of immune diseases like SLE, bronchial asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and microbial infection. However, it is critical to conduct trials for establishing optimum dosing paradigms as well as the long-term impact of Mg supplementation in the frame of immune disease.