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Platelet functionality alterations have been correlated to the onset of hypertension in pregnancy and oral Mg++ supplementation has been clinically postulated to counteract such alterations. We, therefore tested the effect of 4 weeks oral Mg++ pyrrolidone carboxylate supplementation on platelet function. Forty-eight pregnant women were enrolled in the study at the beginning of the third trimester (30-32 weeks). Twenty women were preeclamptic, while 28 remained normotensive and served as controls. All the women received 360 mg/day magnesium pyrrolidone carboxylate for 4 weeks. DPH fluorescence, Na+/K(+)-ATPase and Ca(++)-ATPase activity, intracellular free Ca++ concentrations were determined prior and after the 4-weeks supplementation. Oral Mg++ supplementation significantly increased platelet DPH fluorescence in both normotensive and preeclamptic women. In normotensive pregnant women, it also significantly increased the activity of Na+/K(+)-ATPase, the activity of Ca(++)-ATPase and reduced the concentration of intraplatelet free Ca++. In hypertensive pregnant women, Mg supplementation increases Na+/K(+)-ATPase activity and decreases intracellular free Ca++; this, in turn, contributes to reducing the activity of Ca(++)-ATPase. Magnesium supplementation to preventing hypertension in pregnancy seems to have a consistent biochemical and clinical background.

We studied 10 patients affected by primary hypercholesterolemia treated with placebo for 1 month and with simvastatin (20 mg die) for 6 months during a double-blind clinical trial. At 1-month intervals we determined the following parameters in the serum: total and HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A1 and B. At the same time intervals, we also determined the cholesterol and phospholipid concentration, the Na+/K+ ATPase activity and the fluidity of the erythrocyte membranes. Our results demonstrated the following modifications in the erythrocyte membranes during simvastatin treatment: 1) an initial increase in the cholesterol concentration and in the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio, with a significant decrease only after 4 months; 2) a similar behaviour of membrane fluidity, with an initial decrease and an elevation after 4 months; 3) an increase in the Na+/K+ ATPase activity only after 4 months. We hypothesize that simvastatin not only inhibits the hepatic synthesis of cholesterol, but also modifies the cholesterol exchange between plasma and the erythrocyte membrane.