Correlation of Serum Magnesium and Serum Lipid Levels in Hemodialysis Patients

Abnormalities in lipid and/or protein content of lipoprotein have been described in patients with chronic renal failure [1, 2]. Hypertriglyceridemia occurs in 50–75% of patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Although hypercholesterolemia is rare in uremic and dialyzed patients, decreased high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration has been documented [3]. Magnesium retention is also a problem in patients on maintenance hemodialysis: the majority of dialysis patients present with hypermagnesemia [4]. Magnesium deficiency has a possible role in the perturbation of lipid metabolism in the non uremic population [5, 6]. Furthermore, it has been shown that in uremic rats magnesium deficiency worsens several serum lipid parameters [7]. We have studied the relation of serum magnesium and plasma lipid levels in uremic hemodialysis patients.