Omer Salah Sadiem Al-Doori¹, Zahraa K Al-Hassani², Sura Sagban Abid Ali³, Hayder Abdulhasan Jalil⁴, Mohammed Khalid Abbood⁵ , Ali Khalaf Hasan¹

¹Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Pharmacy, Tikrit University, Saladin,; ²Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Ibn Sina University for Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Baghdad,; ³Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, University of Bilad Al-Rafidain, Diyala,; ⁴Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Al-Bayan University, Baghdad,; ⁵Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Al-Bayan University, Baghdad, Iraq.

For correspondence:-  Mohammed Abbood   Email: mohammed.k@albayan.edu.iq

Received: 13 July 2026        Accepted: 31 October 2026        Published: 31 October 2026

Citation: Al-Doori OS, Al-Hassani ZK, Ali SS, Jalil HA, Abbood MK, Hasan AK. Serum magnesium as a biochemical and pharmacological risk marker for arrhythmias in chronic cardiovascular disease. Trop J Pharm Res 2026; 25(10):1365-1371 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v25i10.4

© 2026 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To estimate the point prevalence of hypomagnesemia among adults with chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its association with arrhythmias, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and exposure to commonly prescribed cardiovascular medications. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from March 2023 to August 2024. The study included 200 adults with established CVD and 100 healthy controls. Serum magnesium was measured using a standardized colorimetric assay, with hypomagnesemia defined as < 1.8 mg/dL. Arrhythmias were assessed by 12-lead electrocardiography and LVEF by transthoracic echocardiography. Medication exposure was obtained from medical records and patient interviews. Results: Hypomagnesemia was significantly more prevalent among patients with CVD compared with controls (p < 0.001) and independently associated with arrhythmias (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.4 – 3.8; p = 0.001). Each 0.1 mg/dL decrease in serum magnesium was associated with a 0.15 % reduction in LVEF (β = −0.15; 95 % CI: −0.25 to −0.05; p = 0.002). Furthermore, hypomagnesemia was more frequent among users of diuretics, proton pump inhibitors, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and digoxin. Conclusion: Hypomagnesemia was common among patients with CVD, and independently associated with arrhythmias.

Keywords: Arrhythmias, Biochemical risk marker, Cardiovascular disease, Hypomagnesemia, Magnesium, Medication safety

Impact Factor
Thompson Reuters (ISI): 0.6 (2023)
H-5 index (Google Scholar): 49 (2023)