Magnesium Depletion Score as an Indicator of Health Risk and Nutritional Status-A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Biochemistry
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Magnesium is vital for over 600 enzymatic reactions, crucial for human metabolic and biochemical processes.
• Magnesium deficiency is linked to chronic diseases, but its signs are nonspecific and assessment is challenging.
• The magnesium depletion score (MDS) is a new tool to identify deficiency risk, but its broad clinical validity is unconfirmed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review on the clinical applicability and validity of the magnesium depletion score (MDS).
• To assess the impact of MDS on health and nutritional status across diverse populations.

Main Methods:

• Systematic search of four databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Scopus) using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines.
• Inclusion of clinical and observational English-language studies assessing MDS impact on health/nutritional status up to May 2025.
• Protocol preregistered on Open Science Framework for transparency.

Main Results:

• 48 articles were included: 39 cross-sectional, 15 prospective cohort, and 1 RCT secondary analysis.
• Most studies (all but two) reported adverse health associations with a high MDS.
• A significant inverse correlation was found between MDS and dietary magnesium intake.

Conclusions:

• The MDS shows potential for rapid identification of individuals at risk of magnesium deficiency or insufficiency.
• Combining MDS with dietary intake assessment may improve early detection of deficiency and related comorbidities.
• Further large-scale clinical trials are necessary to validate these findings and confirm clinical utility.