ABSTRACT
The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic risk factors that include obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and elevated blood pressure. This syndrome is of particular importance given its large prevalence in the general population worldwide and because it is a predisposing condition that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. The anti-atherogenic effects of the magnesium profile appear to involve the modification of several enzymes linked with lipid metabolism, inhibiting the activity of lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase and HMG-CoA reductase, and stimulating the activity of lipoprotein lipase. Magnesium is involved in more than 300 enzymatic reactions, including glycogen breakdown, fat oxidation, and ATP synthesis. In addition, disorders of intracellular magnesium homeostasis decrease tyrosine kinase activity at insulin receptors, increasing insulin resistance, and negatively influence glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, decreasing beta-cell function. Magnesium inhibits the effects of calcium from vascular smooth muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum by competing for a calcium receptor on a calcium-regulated efflux channel.
