Intra-erythrocyte magnesium levels and their clinical implications in geriatric outpatients.

OBJECTIVES: Magnesium deficiency has been implicated as a factor in numerous chronic diseases and previous studies suggest a greater prevalence of occult magnesium deficiency among older adults. Serum is the choice for the assessment of most analyses used in clinical medicine, although serum magnesium concentrations have been shown to be poor predictors of intracellular magnesium concentration. The aim of this study was to compare intracellular and extracellular magnesium concentrations in geriatric outpatients. Moreover, we examined whether a significant correlation between magnesium parameters and clinical outcome existed. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Geriatric medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 246 patients with a mean age of 71.9 ± 5.7 years were involved. MEASUREMENTS: Intra-erythrocyte magnesium levels were analyzed with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Serum magnesium levels were within normal range in all patients, whereas intra-erythrocyte magnesium measurements were low in 57% of the patients. Increase in serum levels were together with just only a slightly increase in intra-erythrocyte measurements and the relationship was very weak. Intra-erythrocyte Mg levels were not significantly correlated with many laboratory or clinical parameters. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that intra-erythrocyte Mg does not correlate with serum levels and clinical parameters in geriatric outpatients, but further studies are needed to define the correlation.

Antioxidant status in cerebrovascular accident.

Ischemia is associated with the pathological changes caused by the accumulation of reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) in cerebrovascular accident (CVA). The aim of this study was to determine red cell copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) and catalase activities and copper and zinc concentrations both in plasma and in red cells in CVA. Cu/Zn-SOD and catalase activities of 16 patients, with an average age of 64 yr, were measured spectrophotometrically; copper and zinc concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that Cu/Zn-SOD activity was increased markedly in patients compared to the young controls and reached a peak on the d 5 of the disease, whereas the catalase activity of the patients on d 3 and d 5 were in the normal range, but higher on d 10. The enzyme activities of the elderly group were generally increased compared to the young controls. Copper and zinc concentrations showed corresponding alterations. These findings suggested that the effects of oxidative stress in CVA might be reflected in red cell and plasma parameters.

Copper, zinc and magnesium status in hyperemesis gravidarum.

Plasma copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and magnesium (Mg) levels were measured in three groups of women; (1) pregnant women suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG)(n=43); (2) pregnant women with uncomplicated pregnancies (n=11) and (3) non-pregnant women (n=11). Plasma Cu, Zn and Mg levels were measured by atomic absorbtion spectrophotometer. We determined that plasma Zn and Mg levels were lower in patients with HG and significant differences were noted between the control groups and HG patients (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). We still need further large cohort studies in order to understand if this is the cause or consequence of hyperemesis gravidarum.

Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity differs in clinical subgroups of Parkinson's disease patients.

There is controversy as to whether there are clinical subgroups in Parkinson's disease (PD). Six tremor-dominant and six bradykinesia-dominant patients identified among 29 cases with PD were compared in terms of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and several clinical variables. Erythrocyte SOD activity in tremor-dominant patients was higher than in bradykinesia-dominant patients. According to our preliminary results obtained from small number of patients, the difference of SOD activity in clinically distinct subgroups suggests there may be separate clinical subgroups of PD which can be differentiated by a biological marker.

Trace element and magnesium levels and superoxide dismutase activity in rheumatoid arthritis.

It has been suggested that reactive oxygen metabolites and trace elements play some role in the etiology and pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is believed to exert an important protective role against oxygen toxicity. The aim of the study was to investigate the probable changes in the levels of trace elements and SOD activity in RA. Plasma and erythrocyte copper, zinc, and magnesium levels and erythrocyte SOD activity were measured in groups of controls and RA cases. Significantly increased erythrocyte SOD activity was found in RA patients in comparison with controls (p < 0.0001). A rise in erythrocyte Zn level (p < 0.0001) and plasma Cu level (p < 0.0001) and a decrease in erythrocyte Cu level (p < 0.05) and plasma Zn level (p < 0.05) were obtained in RA patients when compared to controls. Plasma and erythrocyte Mg levels of the RA patients showed slight and statistically insignificant reductions when compared to controls (p > 0.05). In RA patients, there were positive correlations between erythrocyte SOD activity and Mg level (r = 0.4345, p < 0.01) and between erythrocyte Zn level and plasma Cu level (r = 0.4132, p < 0.01). There were negative correlations between erythrocyte SOD activity and plasma Zn level (r = -0.3605, p < 0.05) and between plasma Zn level and erythrocyte Cu level (r = -0.4578, p < 0.01) in RA patients.

Trace elements and superoxide dismutase in benign and malignant breast diseases.

This study was planned to determine the probable changes in trace element levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in women with neoplastic breast diseases. Measurements were performed in three different groups. The first group consisted of 20 healthy women, control group, the second group contained 16 patients with benign breast disease and the third group contained 39 patients with malignant breast disease. The trace element concentrations were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and SOD activity by using spectrophotometry. When compared with the control values, the plasma copper levels were slightly increased in the second group and significantly in the third group (p < 0.001). The difference between the benign and malignant groups was also significant (p < 0.001). The red cell copper values showed a marked decrease in both groups (p < 0 001). Although there were increases in the plasma zinc levels of both patient groups, the differences were not significant statistically. But, the red cell zinc values showed an significant increase in benign and malignant patients compared to the control group (p < 0.001) (p < 0.001). The plasma magnesium and red cell magnesium values did not show significant differences. The red cell SOD activity showed an significant increase in the benign and malignant patient groups (p < 0.001). The results of this study suggested that reactive oxygen metabolites may play a pathogenetic role in the both benign and malignant tumor development, which is reflected by the change in SOD activity, and in trace element concentrations.

Antioxidant defence system in a patient with cerebrovascular accident.

The increased production of reactive oxygen metabolites in the central nervous system may result in cellular damage and vascular-parenchymal injury. Vascular injury is also a cause of the vasoregulation deficiency. In this case report, a 60-year-old woman was admitted to the department of neurology, with a diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident. During 18 days of follow-up, the status of the antioxidant system was determined by measuring red cell superoxide dismutase and catalase activity. Red cell and plasma copper, zinc and magnesium concentrations were also measured. Red cell superoxide dismutase activity increased markedly by Day 2, reached a peak on Day 6 before decreasing to normal 18 days after the injury. Red cell catalase activity was below normal values during the whole of the 18-day study period and was at its lowest between days 6 and 7. Plasma copper, zinc and magnesium concentrations showed corresponding alterations.