Magnesium and healthy aging.

Magnesium (Mg) is relatively stable in the intracellular compartment, although decreases linearly with advancing age. This begs the question as to whether Mg could be used as biomarker of aging. A biomarker of aging is a biological parameter of an organism that, in the absence of disease, better predicts functional capability at a later age than the chronological age. Bone and muscle Mg content might be useful biomarkers, but the need for biopsies and the heterogeneous distribution of Mg in bones and muscles strongly limit the application of these methods in clinical practice. Similar considerations can be made for urinary Mg assessment, particularly after a loading test. Markers of Mg in blood seem fairly unreliable as biomarkers of aging since they are strongly dependent upon renal function, do not reflect the intracellular Mg status, and, in some investigations, are within normal ranges although other Mg parameters are not. Other investigations (e.g. nuclear magnetic resonance with fluorescent probes) seem to be promising, but their availability remains limited.