Low levels of serum magnesium are associated with poststroke cognitive impairment in ischemic stroke patients

Abstract

Purpose

Population-based studies have revealed a high prevalence of cognitive impairment after stroke. We aimed to determine the impact of serum magnesium (Mg²⁺) levels on the occurrence of poststroke cognitive impairment (PSCI).

Patients and methods

Acute ischemic stroke patients (n = 327) were enrolled in our study and serum Mg²⁺ levels were assessed on admission. The cognitive performance of each patient was evaluated using the Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE) at a 1-month follow-up visit.

Results

One hundred five (32.1%) patients were diagnosed with PSCI at 1-month poststroke. The serum Mg²⁺ levels in both the PSCI group and the non-PSCI group were significantly lower than those in normal control group (P<0.001). In addition, the PSCI group had lower levels of serum Mg²⁺ compared to the non-PSCI group (P=0.003). In the binary logistic regression analysis, a serum Mg²⁺ level of ≤0.82 mmol/L was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing PSCI by the 1-month follow-up (OR 2.236, 95% CI 1.232–4.058, P=0.008), as was age (OR 1.043, 95% CI 1.014–1.073, P=0.003).

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate the existence of a significant association between low levels of serum Mg²⁺ and the occurrence of PSCI 1-month poststroke, and these results suggest that low levels of serum Mg²⁺ on admission may serve as a risk factor for developing PSCI by 1-month poststroke.

Keywords:

• cognition
• magnesium
• stroke
• risk factor

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Wenzhou Municipal Sci-Tech Bureau Program (Y20160002), National Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant number: 2015BAI13B01), as well as the Projects of National Science Foundation of China (no 81873799). We are greatly indebted to the staff and to the patients for their contributions to this study.

Author contributions

Xinjie Tu and Jincai He designed the study and wrote the protocol. Xinjie Tu, Huihua Qiu, Shasha Lin, Weilei He, Guiqian Huang, Xingru Zhang, and Yuemin Wu collected the data of the study. Xinjie Tu conducted literature searches and provided summaries of previous research studies. Xinjie Tu conducted the statistical analysis. Xinjie Tu and Huihua Qiu wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting and revising the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.