Table 1 Characteristics of 1276 GEA study participants according to serum magnesium quartiles

N

326

304

338

308

Serum magnesium (mg/dl)

1.90 [1.83–1.94]

2.03 [2.00–2.05]

2.11 [2.09–2.14]

2.24 [2.20–2.29]

<0.001

Dietary magnesium (mg)

351 [290–410]

344 [292–421]

356 [289–424]

358 [293–422]

0.692

Male (%)

50

49.3

51.2

49

0.949

Age (years)

54 ± 10

53 ± 10

54 ± 9

55 ± 9

0.079

Body mass index (kg/cm²)

28.8 ± 4.2

28.4 ± 4.2

28.0 ± 4.0

28.1 ± 3.8

0.056

Visceral adipose tissue (cm²)

157 [112–211]

148 [112–190]

150 [109–194]

148 [115–193]

0.196

Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)

118 [108–130]

113 [103–125]

114 [106–123]

113 [103–123]

<0.001

Glucose (mg/dl)

95 [87–125]

91 [85–99]

89 [83–96]

89 [84–96]

<0.001

Insulin (μU/ml)

18.1 [13.2–24.9]

18.2 [12.6–24.7]

16.7 [12.4–22.8]

16.4 [12.3–22.4]

0.067

HOMA-IR

4.9 [3.0–7.5]

4.2 [2.8–5.7]

3.7 [2.6–5.4]

3.6 [2.6–5.1]

<0.001

Cholesterol

 Total (mg/dl)

190 ± 36

190 ± 37

193 ± 37

198 ± 37^a,b

0.015

 LDL (mg/dl)

116 ± 32

117 ± 33

117 ± 32

123 ± 33^a,b,c

0.009

 HDL (mg/dl)

45.7 ± 13.2

45.1 ± 13.3

47.8 ± 14.1

45.6 ± 13.0

0.065

Triglycerides (mg/dl)

148 [114–200]

152 [113–202]

145 [106–209]

153 [116–204]

0.844

Apolipoprotein B (mg/dl)

92 [74–112]

93 [75–111]

95 [79–115]

103 [85–122]

<0.001

Apolipoprotein A (mg/dl)

133 [114–154]

131 [111–152]

134 [117–158]

135 [117–155]

0.095

Adiponectin (μg/ml)

8.0 [4.8–11.8]

7.6 [5.0–12.1]

8.1 [5.2–13.1]

7.8 [5.0–12.2]

0.915

hsCRP (mg/l)

1.8 [0.9–3.6]

1.5 [0.8–3.3]

1.4 [0.7–2.9]

1.4 [0.8–3.0]

0.018

Current smoking (%)

21

23

23

21

0.765

Physical activity

7.75 [6.88–8.88]

7.88 [6.75–8.75]

7.88 [7.13–8.75]

7.75 [7.00–8.63]

0.256

Menopausal women (%)

62

62.3

64.8

76.6

0.018

Hypertension (%)

14

8

8

8

0.009

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (%)

34

10

8

5

<0.001

Insulin resistance (%)

66

63

53

51

<0.001

Metabolic syndrome (%)

54

44

41

41

0.003

CAC score >0 (%)

35

24

26

24

0.002