Journal of Water and Health Vol 10 No 1 pp 161–169 © IWA Publishing 2012 doi:10.2166/wh.2012.028

Association of blood pressure and metabolic syndrome components with magnesium levels in drinking water in some Serbian municipalities

Zorica Rasic-Milutinovic, Gordana Perunicic-Pekovic, Dragana Jovanovic, Zoran Gluvic and Milce Cankovic-Kadijevic

Chronic exposure to insufficient levels of magnesium (Mg) in drinking water increases the risk of magnesium deficiency and its association with hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of the study was to assess the potential association of mineral contents in drinking water with blood pressure and other components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (BMI as measure of obesity, triglycerides, glucose, and insulin resistance, index-HOMA IR), in a healthy population. This study was conducted in three randomly selected municipalities (Pozarevac, Grocka and Banovci), and recruited 90 healthy blood donors, aged 20–50 years. The Pozarevac area had a four times higher mean Mg level in drinking water (42 mg L^-1) than Grocka (11 mg L^-1). Diastolic blood pressure was lowest in subjects from Pozarevac. Serum Mg (sMg) was highest, and serum Ca²⁺/Mg (sCa/Mg) lowest in subjects from Pozarevac, and after adjustment for confounders (age, gender, BMI), only total cholesterol and sMg levels were independent predictors of diastolic blood pressure, sMg levels were independent predictors of triglycerides, and sCa/Mg predicted glucose levels. These results suggest that Mg supplementation in areas of lower magnesium levels in drinking water may be an important measure in the prevention of hypertension and MetS in general.

Keywords: calcium; drinking water; hypertension; magnesium; magnesium deficiency; metabolic syndrome

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