Intestinal absorption of magnesium from food and supplements.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to measure magnesium absorption over the wide range of intakes to which the intestine may be exposed from food and/or magnesium-containing medications. Net magnesium absorption was measured in normal subjects after they ingested a standard meal supplemented with 0, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mEq of magnesium acetate. Although absorption increased with each increment in intake, fractional magnesium absorption fell progressively (from 65% at the lowest to 11% at the highest intake) so that absorption as a function of intake was curvilinear. This absorption-intake relationship was almost perfectly represented by an equation containing a hyperbolic function plus a linear function. Our results are statistically compatible with a magnesium absorption process that simultaneously uses a mechanism that reaches an absorptive maximum, plus a mechanism that endlessly absorbs a defined fraction (7%) of ingested magnesium. Compared to previous studies of calcium absorption, much less magnesium that calcium was absorbed at intakes above 8 mEq/meal, apparently due to greater restriction of intestinal permeability to magnesium. We also found that magnesium from a high magnesium-containing food source, almonds, was just as bioavailable as from soluble magnesium acetate. In contrast, magnesium absorption from commercially available enteric-coated magnesium chloride was much less than from magnesium acetate, suggesting that enteric coating can impair magnesium bioavailability.
Full text
Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (1.1M), or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References.
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Morgan KJ, Stampley GL, Zabik ME, Fischer DR. Magnesium and calcium dietary intakes of the U.S. population. J Am Coll Nutr. 1985;4(2):195–206. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Duncan DL. Nutrition balance techniques and their limitations. Some aspects of the interpretation of mineral balances. Proc Nutr Soc. 1967;26(1):102–106. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lentner C, Lauffenburger T, Guncaga J, Dambacher MA, Haas HG. The metabolic balance technique: a critical reappraisal. Metabolism. 1975 Apr;24(4):461–471. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- King RG, Stanbury SW. Magnesium metabolism in primary hyperparathyroidism. Clin Sci. 1970 Aug;39(2):281–303. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bo-Linn GW, Santa Ana CA, Morawski SG, Fordtran JS. Starch blockers--their effect on calorie absorption from a high-starch meal. N Engl J Med. 1982 Dec 2;307(23):1413–1416. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bo-Linn GW, Davis GR, Buddrus DJ, Morawski SG, Santa Ana C, Fordtran JS. An evaluation of the importance of gastric acid secretion in the absorption of dietary calcium. J Clin Invest. 1984 Mar;73(3):640–647. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- JACOBSON ED, BONDY DC, BROITMAN SA, FORDTRAN JS. Validity of polyethylene glycol in estimating intestinal water volume. Gastroenterology. 1963 Jun;44:761–767. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davis GR, Santa Ana CA, Morawski SG, Fordtran JS. Development of a lavage solution associated with minimal water and electrolyte absorption or secretion. Gastroenterology. 1980 May;78(5 Pt 1):991–995. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Read NW, Miles CA, Fisher D, Holgate AM, Kime ND, Mitchell MA, Reeve AM, Roche TB, Walker M. Transit of a meal through the stomach, small intestine, and colon in normal subjects and its role in the pathogenesis of diarrhea. Gastroenterology. 1980 Dec;79(6):1276–1282. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Holgate AM, Read NW. Relationship between small bowel transit time and absorption of a solid meal. Influence of metoclopramide, magnesium sulfate, and lactulose. Dig Dis Sci. 1983 Sep;28(9):812–819. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sheikh MS, Schiller LR, Fordtran JS. In vivo intestinal absorption of calcium in humans. Miner Electrolyte Metab. 1990;16(2-3):130–146. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Atkins GL, Nimmo IA. Current trends in the estimation of Michaelis-Menten parameters. Anal Biochem. 1980 May 1;104(1):1–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Atkins GL, Gardner ML. The computation of saturable and linear components of intestinal and other transport kinetics. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1977 Jul 4;468(1):127–145. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peck CC, Barrett BB. Nonlinear least-squares regression programs for microcomputers. J Pharmacokinet Biopharm. 1979 Oct;7(5):537–541. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Atkins GL. A comparison of methods for estimating the kinetic parameters of two simple types of transport process. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1983 Jul 27;732(2):455–463. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Meddings JB, Scott RB, Fick GH. Analysis and comparison of sigmoidal curves: application to dose-response data. Am J Physiol. 1989 Dec;257(6 Pt 1):G982–G989. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sheikh MS, Ramirez A, Emmett M, Santa Ana C, Schiller LR, Fordtran JS. Role of vitamin D-dependent and vitamin D-independent mechanisms in absorption of food calcium. J Clin Invest. 1988 Jan;81(1):126–132. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fine KD, Santa Ana CA, Fordtran JS. Diagnosis of magnesium-induced diarrhea. N Engl J Med. 1991 Apr 11;324(15):1012–1017. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brannan PG, Vergne-Marini P, Pak CY, Hull AR, Fordtran JS. Magnesium absorption in the human small intestine. Results in normal subjects, patients with chronic renal disease, and patients with absorptive hypercalciuria. J Clin Invest. 1976 Jun;57(6):1412–1418. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Milla PJ, Aggett PJ, Wolff OH, Harries JT. Studies in primary hypomagnesaemia: evidence for defective carrier-mediated small intestinal transport of magnesium. Gut. 1979 Nov;20(11):1028–1033. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yamamoto T, Kabata H, Yagi R, Takashima M, Itokawa Y. Primary hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia. Report of a case and review of the world literature. Magnesium. 1985;4(2-3):153–164. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fordtran JS, Locklear TW. Ionic constituents and osmolality of gastric and small-intestinal fluids after eating. Am J Dig Dis. 1966 Jul;11(7):503–521. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lin SY, Kawashima Y. Drug release from tablets containing cellulose acetate phthalate as an additive or enteric-coating material. Pharm Res. 1987 Feb;4(1):70–74. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davis SS, Hardy JG, Fara JW. Transit of pharmaceutical dosage forms through the small intestine. Gut. 1986 Aug;27(8):886–892. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sheikh MS, Maguire JA, Emmett M, Santa Ana CA, Nicar MJ, Schiller LR, Fordtran JS. Reduction of dietary phosphorus absorption by phosphorus binders. A theoretical, in vitro, and in vivo study. J Clin Invest. 1989 Jan;83(1):66–73. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tibbetts DM, Aub JC. MAGNESIUM METABOLISM IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. I. THE MAGNESIUM AND CALCIUM EXCRETION OF NORMAL INDIVIDUALS, ALSO THE EFFECTS OF MAGNESIUM, CHLORIDE, AND PHOSPHATE IONS. J Clin Invest. 1937 Jul;16(4):491–501. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- HEATON FW, PARSONS FM. The metabolic effect of high magnesium intake. Clin Sci. 1961 Dec;21:273–284. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Briscoe AM, Ragan C. Effect of magnesium on calcium metabolism in man. Am J Clin Nutr. 1966 Nov;19(5):296–306. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- CHESLEY LC, TEPPER I. Some effects of magnesium loading upon renal excretion of magnesium and certain other electrolytes. J Clin Invest. 1958 Oct;37(10):1362–1372. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quamme GA, Dirks JH. Intraluminal and contraluminal magnesium on magnesium and calcium transfer in the rat nephron. Am J Physiol. 1980 Mar;238(3):F187–F198. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quamme GA, Dirks JH. Magnesium transport in the nephron. Am J Physiol. 1980 Nov;239(5):F393–F401. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quamme GA, Dirks JH. The physiology of renal magnesium handling. Ren Physiol. 1986;9(5):257–269. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
