ArticleEBioMedicine2022
Effect of antenatal magnesium sulphate on MRI biomarkers of white matter development at term equivalent age: The MagNUM Study.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Magnesium sulphate for women at risk of preterm birth for neuroprotection of the fetus.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Magnesium sulphate for women at risk of preterm birth for neuroprotection of the fetus.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Prenatal Magnesium Sulfate and Functional Connectivity in Offspring at Term-Equivalent Age.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Magnesium Sulfate in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: Bridging the Gap Between Molecular Neuroprotection and Clinical Outcomes.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Nutrition, Cognition and Learning: The Role of White Matter Development and Connectivity.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Prenatal Magnesium Sulfate Exposure Is Not Associated with Different Neurodevelopmental Outcomes by Sex in Extremely Preterm Infants.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Brain 3T magnetic resonance imaging in neonates: features and incidental findings from a research cohort enriched for preterm birth.Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2024Article
- Antenatal Magnesium Sulfate Is Not Associated With Improved Long-Term Neurodevelopment and Growth in Very Low Birth Weight Infants.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMagnesium sulphate given to women prior to very preterm birth protects the perinatal brain, so fewer babies die or develop cerebral palsy. How magnesium sulphate exerts these beneficial effects remains uncertain. The MagNUM Study aimed to assess the effect of exposure to antenatal magnesium sulphate on MRI measures of brain white matter microstructure at term equivalent age.
methodsNested cohort study within the Magnesium sulphate at 30 to <34 weeks' Gestational age Neuroprotection Trial (MAGENTA). Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12611000491965. Mothers at risk of preterm birth at 30 to <34 weeks' gestation were randomised to receive either 4 g of magnesium sulphate heptahydrate [8 mmol magnesium ions], or saline placebo, when preterm birth was planned or expected within 24 h. Participating babies underwent diffusion tensor MRI at term equivalent age. The main outcomes were fractional anisotropy across the white matter tract skeleton compared using Tract-based Spatial Statistics (TBSS), with adjustment for postmenstrual age at birth and at MRI, and MRI site. Researchers and families were blind to treatment group allocation during data collection and analyses.
findingsOf the 109 babies the demographics of the 49 babies exposed to magnesium sulphate were similar to the 60 babies exposed to placebo. In babies whose mothers were allocated to magnesium sulphate, fractional anisotropy was lower within the corticospinal tracts and corona radiata, the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi compared to babies whose mothers were allocated placebo (P < 0·05).
interpretationIn babies born preterm after 30 weeks' gestation, antenatal magnesium sulphate exposure did not promote development of white matter microstructure in pathways affecting motor or cognitive function. This suggests that if the neuroprotective effect of magnesium sulphate treatment prior to preterm birth is confirmed at this gestation, the mechanisms are not related to accelerated white matter maturation inferred from fractional anisotropy.
fundingThis study was funded by a project grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC 14/153).
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