Does magnesium status affect glutathione synthesis or levels in the body?

Yes, magnesium status affects glutathione, but the direct human evidence in this retrieval is nearly empty; the strongest data is animal.

The one record that directly tests this is an animal study: rats fed a magnesium-deficient diet for three weeks dropped red blood cell glutathione from about 6.1 to 3.1 µmol/g hemoglobin, roughly half, alongside rising inflammatory markers [1]. That fits the basic chemistry: magnesium is a required cofactor for the enzyme that starts glutathione synthesis, so deficiency should impair production (mechanism stated outside this retrieval, no numbers attached).

The rest of the retrieval mostly misses the question. A rice-seedling study found the opposite direction, glutathione rising in magnesium-deficient leaves, but that is a plant stress response, not a human one [2]. Several human studies confirm magnesium deficiency tracks with inflammation and insulin resistance, which glutathione depletion would plausibly feed, but none measured glutathione at all [3][4][5]. So the chain in humans, low magnesium → low glutathione → worse outcomes, is mechanistically plausible and animal-supported, but no retrieved human study closes the loop.

What this search did not surface: any human trial or cohort measuring glutathione before and after magnesium repletion. That is the study that would settle it.

My call: yes, magnesium status plausibly affects glutathione levels, with direct evidence only in animals and none in humans here. Confidence: moderate.

Retrieval gap: no human study of magnesium and glutathione was found; the answer rests on one animal study plus mechanism.