Touyz Rhian M
Multidisciplinary Research Group on Hypertension, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Front Biosci. 2004 May 1;9:1278-93. doi: 10.2741/1316.
Until recently the physiological role of magnesium was essentially ignored. However, with the development of new technologies to measure the intracellular free concentration of magnesium ([Mg2+]i), the biologically important fraction, there has been an explosion of interest in the molecular, biochemical, physiological and pharmacological functions of magnesium. In addition improved methods for assessing magnesium status in the clinic have contributed to the further understanding of magnesium regulation in health and disease. Magnesium deficiency is now considered to contribute to many diseases and the role for magnesium as a therapeutic agent is being tested in numerous large clinical trials. This review focuses on clinical manifestations associated with magnesium deficiency and highlights the clinical significance of hypermagnesemia. Specific clinical conditions in which magnesium deficiency has been implicated to play a pathophysiological role, namely hypertension, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, prec-eclampsia, asthma and critical illness will be discussed and the possible therapeutic role of magnesium will be considered. Although there is still much to be learnt regarding the exact role of magnesium in clinical medicine, there are two conditions where magnesium is now considered the therapeutic agent of choice, pre-eclampsia and torsades de pointes. Future research, both at the fundamental and clinical levels, will certainly facilitate our understanding of how magnesium contributes to pathological processes and under what circumstances it should be used therapeutically.
直到最近，镁的生理作用基本上被忽视了。然而，随着测量镁的细胞内游离浓度（[Mg2+]i）这一生物学重要部分的新技术的发展，人们对镁的分子、生化、生理和药理功能产生了极大的兴趣。此外，临床评估镁状态的改进方法有助于进一步了解健康和疾病状态下的镁调节。现在认为镁缺乏会导致多种疾病，并且镁作为治疗剂的作用正在众多大型临床试验中进行测试。本综述重点关注与镁缺乏相关的临床表现，并强调高镁血症的临床意义。将讨论镁缺乏被认为在其中发挥病理生理作用的特定临床情况，即高血压、缺血性心脏病、心律失常、先兆子痫、哮喘和危重病，并考虑镁可能的治疗作用。尽管关于镁在临床医学中的确切作用仍有许多有待了解之处，但现在有两种情况镁被认为是首选治疗剂，即先兆子痫和尖端扭转型室速。未来在基础和临床层面的研究肯定会促进我们对镁如何促成病理过程以及在何种情况下应将其用于治疗的理解。
