Volume 32, Issue 5 e2348
REVIEW

Antioxidant/anti-inflammatory effect of Mg2+ in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Yalith Lyzet Arancibia-Hernández

Yalith Lyzet Arancibia-Hernández

Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Laboratorio F-315, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

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Ana Karina Aranda-Rivera

Ana Karina Aranda-Rivera

Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Laboratorio F-315, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

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Alfredo Cruz-Gregorio

Corresponding Author

Alfredo Cruz-Gregorio

Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Laboratorio F-315, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

Correspondence

José Pedraza-Chaverri and Alfredo Cruz-Gregorio, Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Laboratorio F-315, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico.

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

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José Pedraza-Chaverri

Corresponding Author

José Pedraza-Chaverri

Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Laboratorio F-315, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

Correspondence

José Pedraza-Chaverri and Alfredo Cruz-Gregorio, Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Laboratorio F-315, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico.

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

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First published: 31 March 2022
Citations: 1

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), characterised by high levels of inflammation and oxidative stress (OS). Oxidative stress induces oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA, causing tissue damage. Both inflammation and OS contribute to multi-organ failure in severe cases. Magnesium (Mg2+) regulates many processes, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses, as well as the proper functioning of other micronutrients such as vitamin D. In addition, Mg2+ participates as a second signalling messenger in the activation of T cells. Therefore, Mg2+ deficiency can cause immunodeficiency, exaggerated acute inflammatory response, decreased antioxidant response, and OS. Supplementation with Mg2+ has an anti-inflammatory response by reducing the levels of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), interleukin (IL) -6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Furthermore, Mg2+ supplementation improves mitochondrial function and increases the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) content, reducing OS. Therefore, Mg2+ supplementation is a potential way to reduce inflammation and OS, strengthening the immune system to manage COVID-19. This narrative review will address Mg2+ deficiency associated with a worse disease prognosis, Mg2+ supplementation as a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory therapy during and after COVID-19 disease, and suggest that randomised controlled trials are indicated.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Data is openly available in a public repository that issues datasets with https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.