Mg content of healthy and chronically diseased human cancellous bone in relation to age and some physical and chemical factors.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional post-mortem observational study of human tissue samples.
What was done
Researchers measured the elemental composition and mineral density of cancellous bone from the anterior iliac crest of 138 cadavers (men and women across various ages). Subjects were categorized as having died suddenly or from chronic immobilizing diseases. Cation concentrations (including magnesium and calcium) were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, fluoride with an ion-specific electrode, and mineral density by gamma-ray attenuation.
What was found
In individuals dying suddenly, mean (± SD) bone magnesium concentration was 2.84 ± 0.29 mg/g, showing no correlation with age. In the chronic disease group, magnesium decreased slightly with increasing age. Magnesium and calcium concentrations were significantly positively correlated, with calcium accounting for 16.4% of the variance in magnesium levels in linear regression analysis. This relationship was more pronounced in men than women; among women, only postmenopausal individuals with chronic disease and bone loss showed a correlation between magnesium and calcium. The magnesium-to-calcium ratio did not change significantly with age in either sex, and correlations with fluoride and zinc were weak.
Why it matters
This study provides baseline normative values for human cancellous bone magnesium levels and demonstrates that bone magnesium is linked to calcium content rather than general age-related decline in healthy individuals.
Limits
As a cross-sectional post-mortem study, it cannot track dynamic mineral turnover or establish causal mechanisms. The abstract lacks specific breakdown counts for subgroup analyses (e.g., sex and disease categories) and provides no p-values or exact correlation coefficients for several described relationships.
Cited by
- contradicts Over a lifetime, people lose nearly half of the magnesium content in their bones.