Table 3.

Studies that considered Magnesium supplementation

First author, year	Study design	Setting	Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria	Intervention	Parallel treatments
Elsinger et al. (1993)	Retrospective study		Osteoporotic women
Stending-Lindberg et al. (1993)	Case- control	Back Rehabilitation Unit of Ichilov Hospital	Postmenopausal women with musculoskeletal pain of non-malignant origin and an initial bone density value below the reference range (≤ 1.19 g/cm3)	Diseases which preclude magnesium treatment (kidney disease, hypotension, A-V block or myasthenia gravis)	At beginning two Mg(OH)2 tablets (250 mg magnesium); The dosage was increased according to individual tolerance levels, to reach a maximum of two tablets three times daily (750 mg magnesium). The maximum dose was given for 6 months, followed by a maintenance dose of two tablets once daily (250 mg magnesium) for another 18 months	Assessment of bone density on two consecutive years during the period of the study, but no treatment
Carpenter et al. (2006)	Prospective, placebo-controlled, randomized, one-year double-blind trial	Clinical Research Centers at Yale University School of Medicine	Caucasian ethnicity, a ratio of weight-to-height between the third and 97th centiles, and the absence of bone disease	Scoliosis, onset of menses, use of chronic medications (retinoids, thyroid hormone, GH, glucocorticoids, oral contraceptives, anticonvulsants, diuretics, or supplements providing pharmacological dosages of vitamins A or D)	Twice daily in a capsule containing powdered magnesium oxide (300 mg of elemental Mg per day)	Encapsulatedmethylcellulose powder
Aydin et al. (2010)	Randomized controlled trial	Marmara University Medical School	Postmenopausal osteoporotic women with normal renal and hepatic function without use of drug that affect bone metabolism	Chronic systemic or bone disease or had a history of smoking, drug, or alcohol abuse	Daily oral dose of 1,830 mg magnesium citrate in the form of magnesium pastilles	Any treatment
Dimai et al. (1998)	Case- control study	University Hospital of Graz Medical School	Men, from 27–36 yr of age	Smokers, history of drug or alcohol abuse. Abnormal values of serum parameters of hepatic and renal functions or abnormal serum electrolytes and iPTH levels	Daily oral dose of 15 mmol Mg in the form of powder, containing 670 mg magnesium carbonate precipitate (equivalent to 169 mg Mg) and 342 mg magnesium oxide (equivalent to 196 mg), dissolved in 250 mL drinking water, taken in the early afternoon with a 2-h fasting period before and after the Mg intake	Glass of water daily in the afternoon with 2-h fasting
Abraham et al. (1990)	Case–control study	Menopause clinic	Postmenopausal women with hormonal replacement therapy	–	A complete supplement containing 500 mg of calcium as the citrate salt and 200 mg of magnesium as the oxide; six tablets/day	Dietary advice but chose not to take the supplement
Wood et al. (2001)	Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial	Center for Pediatric Nutrition Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT	Preadolescent girls (age 12, Tanner Stage 2)	–	Chewable vitamin/mineralsupplement: four tablets per day provided 800 mg/d elemental calcium (as calcium citrate and carbonate), 400 mg/d elemental magnesium (as magnesium citrate and oxide), and 400 IU/d vitamin D3	Placebo supplement containing no vitamins or minerals

First author, year	Number of subjects (M-F) If only	Duration of the intervention	Primary outcomes	Secondary outcomes	Results
Elsinger et al. (1993)	53 F	14–22 months	Effects of silicon, fluoride, etidronate and magnesium on bone mineral density		Comparisons between BMD of controls (n = 16) and treated groups over a 14–22 month period showed that fluoride (n = 10) induced a significant (P < 0.05) increase in vertebral and a slight decrease in femoral BMD, whereas silicon (n = 8) induced a significant (P < 0.05) increase in femoral BMD. Etidronate (n = 13) and, to a lesser extent, magnesium (n = 6), induced a slight although statistically non-significant increase in vertebral BMD
Stending-Lindberg et al. (1993)	31 F(case)—23 F (controls, without any symptoms that refused the treatment)	2 years	Effect of magnesium treatment on trabecular bone density in postmenopausal osteoporotic women	–	The mean bone density of the responders increased significantly both after one year (P < 0.00 1) and after 2 years (P < 0.02), while in untreated controls. the mean bone density decreased significantly (P < 0.001). Magnesium therapy prevented fractures and resulted in significant Increase of bone density In 71 per cent and arrest of bone loss in another 16 per cent of the patients
Carpenter et al. (2006)	23 F (Mg treated) – 27 F (placebo)	12 months	Identification of effect size and determination of compliance with Mg supplements in adolescents	Mg supplementation’s safety and acceptability for adolescents	Significantly increased accrual (P = 0.05) in integrated hip BMC occurred in the Mg supplemented vs. placebo group. Lumbar spinal BMC accrual was slightly (but not significantly) greater in the Mg-treated group. Compliance was excellent; 73% of capsules were ingested as inferred by pill counts
Aydin et al. (2010)	20 F (10 magnesium-supplemented and 10 unsupplemented)	30 days	Evaluate the short-term effects of daily oral magnesium supplementation on biochemical markers of bone turnover in postmenopausal osteoporotic women	–	Thirty consecutive days of oral magnesium supplementation caused significantly decrease in serum iPTH levels in the Mg-supplemented group (p < 0.05). Serum osteocalcin levels were significantly increased (p < 0.001) and urinary deoxypyridinoline levels were decreased (p < 0.001)
Dimai et al. (1998)	24 M (12 supplement + 12 controls)	30 days	Oral supplementation of a moderate dose of Mg suppresses bone turnover rates	–	The Mg supplementation significantly reduced the serum iPTH level. Mg supplementation also reduced levels of both serum bone formation and resorption biochemical markers after 1–5 days
Abraham et al. (1990)	26 F (19 case – 7 controls)	6–12 months	Validity of magnesium instead of calcium for the management of primary postmenopausal osteoporosis (PPMO)	–	A nonsignificant increase, 0.7%, in the mean Bone Mineral Density of the seven patients receiving hormonal therapy and dietary advice was observed as compared to a mean increase of 11% in the 19 women receiving the supplements
Wood et al. (2001)	81 F (38 supplement – 43 placebo)	1 year	Assessing the impact of a daily calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D supplement on bone development and bone mineralization in preadolescent girls	–	Girls receiving the calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D supplement showed a net gain in trabecular bone mineral density of 1.41% over baseline, while girls in the placebo group showed a net decline of -0.94% (p = 0.005). Percent gains in trabecular bone mineral content after 12 months of supplementation were also greater in the active treatment group than in placebo (5.83% versus 0.69% respectively)