Comparison of two methods for the assessment of intra-erythrocyte magnesium and its determinants 67 3 This study has several strengths. This is the first study that compared two methods for the assessment of IEM in a large population-based cohort study. The measurement of intracellular magnesium has become more popular nowadays and therefore, there is a need for a simple and rapid technique to measure intracellular concentrations without laborintensive sample preparations. In addition,we used a large cohort study including extensive clinical and biochemical characterization of our subjects to explore associations of clinical parameters with IEM, plasma magnesium and 24-h urinary magnesium excretion. Conclusions In conclusion, we found a strong correlation between a direct and an indirect method for the assessment of IEM. Our study indicates that iIEM can be used in practice, eliminating labor-intensive washing procedures and high costs required for direct methods. Furthermore, the advantages of iIEM, including lower costs and lower labor intensity, outweigh the relative small bias that was found. Associations between clinical parameters and IEM need to be further explored in well-designed randomized clinical trials and large cohort studies, preferable in study populations that are prone to hypomagnesemia and in which IEM concentrations might be depleted, such as T2D patients or renal transplant recipients. Acknowledgements The Lifelines Biobank initiative has been made possible by subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG the Netherlands), University Groningen and the Northern Provinces of the Netherlands. The authors wish to acknowledge the services of the Lifelines Cohort Study, the contributing research centers delivering data to Lifelines, and all the study participants. Funding The project is supported by a funding of the Nedmag BV and NIGRAM2+ collaboration project. NIGRAM2+ is financed by the PPP Allowance made available by Top Sector Life Sciences&Health to theDutchKidneyFoundation to stimulatepublic-privatepartnerships. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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