Comparative evaluation of serum magnesium level in pre-eclamptic and non pre-eclamptic women in a tertiary hospital in southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Magnesium is a micronutrient found in the human body whose major function is to maintain nerve and muscle function. Magnesium sulphate has been used over time as a prophylactic drug in pre-eclamptic women. There is paucity of studies on the role of serum magnesium level in preeclampsia in South-South Nigeria.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to determine the serum levels of magnesium in cohorts of pre-eclamptic and non pre-eclamptic patients in a tertiary hospital in South-South Nigeria.

Methodology: This was a comparative study in which 104 women who satisfied the eligibility criteria were enrolled for the study (52 pre-eclamptic and 52 non- pre-eclamptic women). Data analysis was done using statistical software (IBM SPSS^® for windows version 21.0.) Data was analyzed for mean and standard deviation. Comparison of serum levels of magnesium between the two groups was performed by student t-test and P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The study showed that the serum magnesium level was not statistically different between the pre-eclamptic and non-pre-eclamptic women (1.79±0.24mg/dl vs. 1.88±0.37mg/dl respectively, p = 0.10). There was no correlation between serum magnesium level and the systolic and diastolic blood pressures in either group.

Conclusion: This study showed that women with preeclampsia did not demonstrate reduced serum magnesium level. This support the hypothesis that hypomagnesaemia is not a possible aetiology of preeclampsia.

Keywords: Pregnancy, Micronutrients, Hypertension, Primigravida