Relation between severity of magnesium deficiency and frequency of anginal attacks in men with variant angina

We evaluated whether the severity of magnesium deficiency was correlated with the frequency of attacks of variant angina.

Magnesium deficiency may be associated with the development of variant angina. However, the relation between the activity of variant angina and magnesium deficiency remains to be elucidated.

We assessed the body magnesium status of 18 men with variant angina: Group 1 (> or = 4 attacks/week, n = 7) and Group 2 (< 4 attacks/week, n = 11). Concentrations of magnesium were determined in serum, urine, mononuclear cells and erythrocytes, and the 24-h magnesium retention rate was determined.

Group 1 showed a higher 24-h magnesium retention rate (mean +/- SEM 63.5 +/- 7.6% vs. 24.9 +/- 2.7%, p < 0.01) and a lower intracellular concentration of magnesium in mononuclear cells and erythrocytes than did Group 2 (respectively, 156.3 +/- 13.5 vs. 212.1 +/- 6.9 fg/cell, p < 0.01; and 3.5 +/- 0.5 vs. 5.2 +/- 0.4 fg/cell, p < 0.05), demonstrating the presence of magnesium deficiency in Group 1. The 24-h magnesium retention rate and intracellular concentrations of magnesium in mononuclear cells and erythrocytes correlated well with the frequency of anginal attacks (r = 0.78, p < 0.01; r = -0.78, p < 0.01; r = -0.62, p < 0.01, respectively) for all patients.

Data suggest that the magnesium status of men with variant angina is closely related to disease activity.