Impact of Magnesium Supplementation on Blood Pressure: An Umbrella Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background and aim: Conflicting results on the effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure have been published in previous meta-analyses; hence, we conducted this umbrella meta-analysis of RCTs to provide a more robust conclusion on its effects.

Methods: Four databases including PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched to find pertinent papers published on international scientific from inception up to July 15, 2024. We utilized STATA version 17.0 to carry out all statistical analyses (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, US). The random effects model was used to calculate the overall effect size ES and CI.

Findings: Ten eligible review papers with 8610 participants studied the influence of magnesium on SBP and DBP. The pooling of their effect sizes resulted in a significant reduction of SBP (ES = -1.25 mmHg; 95% CI: -1.98, -0.51, P = 0.001) and DBP (ES = -1.40 mmHg; 95% CI: -2.04, -0.75, P = 0.000) by magnesium supplementation. In subgroup analysis, a significant reduction in SBP and DBP was observed in magnesium intervention with dosage ≥400 mg/day (ES for SBP = -6.38 mmHg; ES for DBP = -3.71mmHg), as well as in studies with a treatment duration of ≥12 weeks (ES for SBP = -0.42 mmHg; ES for DBP = -0.45 mmHg).

Implications: The findings of the present umbrella meta-analysis showed an overall decrease of SBP and DBP with magnesium supplementation, particularly at doses of ≥400 mg/day for ≥12 weeks.