The study examined effects of inorganic magnesium agents: magnesium nitrate Mg(NO3)2, magnesium sulfate MgSO4, and magnesium chloride MgCl2 on the development of neurological disorders and mortality in rats resulting from cerebral ischemia provoked by a single-stage bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries. The rats were injected with one of examined magnesium preparations (5 mg/1 kg body weight) 1 h prior to or 1-2 sec after occlusion. The control group rats were treated with physiological saline at the same terms. Irrespective of the moment of injection, magnesium nitrate demonstrated significant protective effect on dynamics of neurological disorders and mortality, while similar effects of magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride were insignificant (1).
The administration of magnesium supplements and nitrates/nitrites decreases arterial blood pressure and attenuates the development of hypertension-induced complications. This study was performed to examine the effects of treatment with magnesium nitrate on the development of hypertension and its complications in spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats. Male SHR rats with persistent hypertension at the age of 12-13 weeks were allocated to two groups according to their arterial blood pressure. Rats from the control group received purified water, while the experimental animals from the second group received magnesium nitrate dissolved in purified water at a dose of 50 mg/kg. After four weeks of treatment, blood pressure was measured, the anatomical and functional parameters of the heart were recorded using an ultrasonograph, vascular reactivity was assayed in organ bath experiments and the cardioprotective effects of magnesium nitrate administration was assayed in an ex vivo experimental heart infarction model. Treatment with magnesium nitrate significantly increased the nitrate concentration in the plasma (from 62 ± 8 μmol/l to 111 ± 8 μmol/L), and attenuated the increase in the arterial blood pressure. In the control and magnesium nitrate groups, the blood pressure rose by 21 ± 3 mmHg and 6 ± 4 mmHg, respectively. The administration of magnesium nitrate had no effect on the altered vasoreactivity, heart function or the size of the heart infarction. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that magnesium nitrate effectively attenuates the rise in arterial blood pressure. However, a longer period of administration or earlier onset of treatment might be needed to delay the development of complications due to hypertension (2).
References____________________________________
(1) Protective effect of magnesium nitrate against neurological disorders provoked by cerebral ischemia in rats.
Kuzenkov VS, Krushinskii AL.
Bull Exp Biol Med. 2014 Oct;157(6):721-3. doi: 10.1007/s10517-014-2651-5. Epub 2014 Oct 24.
(2) Magnesium nitrate attenuates blood pressure rise in SHR rats.
Vilskersts R, Kuka J, Liepinsh E, Cirule H, Gulbe A, Kalvinsh I, Dambrova M.
Magnes Res. 2014 Jan-Mar;27(1):16-24. doi: 10.1684/mrh.2014.0358.
Magnesium nitrate 
Nitric acid
