Magnesium, is it still playing a role in depression? – An insight from Kashmir

ABSTRACT Introduction: Depression is a major psychiatric condition causing significant impairment in the work, personal, and social profiles of individuals. Previously, magnesium has been indicated to play a role in the regulation of anxiety and mood symptoms. This study has been aimed at evaluating the association between levels of magnesium and depression utilizing the Montgomery Asberg depression rating scale (MADRS). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 80 patients suffering from major depressive disorder. Socio-demographic details were collected via a semi-structured interview, and subsequently, the MADRS scale was applied to assess the severity of the depressive symptoms. The serum magnesium level was sent along on the first day of hospitalization in the morning, and a comparative study was done for assessment of relationship of serum magnesium with depressive symptomatology. Results: The mean age of the sample was 34.9 ± 11.7 years and female gender predominance. The mean serum magnesium from the collected blood sample and MADRS was 2.1 ± 0.4 mg/dL and 28.1 ± 11.7, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient was −0.28 ( P value = 0.01) and multivariate regression analysis revealed a significant inverse relation between serum magnesium and MADRS (−0.25, P value = 0.03) after controlling for other variables. Conclusion: A weak, still significant relation exists between serum magnesium and depression. This needs to be further explored as an economical marker for the assessment of depressive symptomatology. Magnesium can be used as a therapeutic agent to improve depression symptomatology in these patients. It is to be seen whether this can be generalized to all patients suffering from depression.