Abstract
To test the hypothesis that fecal magnesium excretion is related to fecal volume, fecal specimens were collected from healthy persons who drank 32 single doses of poorly absorbed carbohydrate (mannitol, lactulose or raffinose): the concentration of Mg++ (Y) in fecal water (X) was linearly and inversely related to fecal volume—that is, Y = 42−0.03 X. In contrast, after drinking magnesium sulfate, the concentration of Mg++ in fecal water rose and, except after the lowest ingested dose of 10 mmol, the points relating Mg++ concentration and fecal volume were outside the upper 95% confidence limit of the linear regression line. These findings could be useful when physicians are analyzing stool specimens for supportive evidence of magnesium misuse in baffling cases of diarrhea.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Barnes B. A. Magnesium conservation: a study of surgical patients. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1969 Aug 15;162(2):786–801. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1969.tb13010.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Krejs G. J., Walsh J. H., Morawski S. G., Fordtran J. S. Intractable diarrhea. Intestinal perfusion studies and plasma VIP concentrations in patients with pancreatic cholera syndrome and surreptitious ingestion of laxatives and diuretics. Am J Dig Dis. 1977 Apr;22(4):280–292. doi: 10.1007/BF01072184. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rude R. K., Singer F. R. Magnesium deficiency and excess. Annu Rev Med. 1981;32:245–259. doi: 10.1146/annurev.me.32.020181.001333. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Saunders D. R., Sillery J., Huibregtse K., Tytgat G. N. Effects of Mg++ and Ca++ on water absorption from rodent and human intestine. Digestion. 1981;22(2):80–84. doi: 10.1159/000198599. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Saunders D. R., Wiggins H. S. Conservation of mannitol, lactulose, and raffinose by the human colon. Am J Physiol. 1981 Nov;241(5):G397–G402. doi: 10.1152/ajpgi.1981.241.5.G397. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]