Antiepileptic effect of magnesium: a new medical hypothesis

Magnesium is an important endogenous ion and coenzyme factor involved in many physiological processes, such as oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis, gene transcription, protein synthesis, and is widely used in clinical practice. During recent years, continuous studies in magnesium ions with epilepsy suggest that magnesium can be used for the prevention and treatment of epilepsy, even for the supplemental treatment of refractory epilepsy. This article reviews the recent research progress from several aspects, such as relation between the low extracellular magnesium and epilepsy, abnormal magnesium concentration in the blood of epileptic patients, the antiepileptic effect of magnesium and possible mechanisms. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2012.05.00