Intensive care medicine

Hypomagnesemia

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Biology

Subclinical infection

Materials science

Virology

Magnesium

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Outbreak

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Physiology

Immunology

Organic chemistry

Immune system

Magnesium deficiency (plants)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Internal medicine

Composite material

Medicine

Chemistry

Resilience (materials science)

Pandemic

Disease

Journal of the American College of Nutrition

Background: In December 2019, the viral pandemic of respiratory illness caused by COVID-19 began sweeping its way across the globe. Several aspects of this infectious disease mimic metabolic events shown to occur during latent subclinical magnesium deficiency. Hypomagnesemia is a relatively common clinical occurrence that often goes unrecognized since magnesium levels are rarely monitored in the clinical setting. Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation after potassium. It is involved in >600 enzymatic reactions in the body, including those contributing to the exaggerated immune and inflammatory responses exhibited by COVID-19 patients.

Combating COVID-19 and Building Immune Resilience: A Potential Role for Magnesium Nutrition?