boron and Magnesium-Deficiency

Recent findings are reviewed indicating that changes in dietary boron and magnesium affect calcium, and thus bone, metabolism in animals and humans. In animals, the need for boron was found to be enhanced when they needed to respond to a nutritional stress which adversely affected calcium metabolism, including magnesium deficiency. A combined deficiency of boron and magnesium caused detrimental changes in the bones of animals. However, boron deprivation did not seem to enhance the requirement for magnesium. In two human studies, boron deprivation caused changes in variables associated with calcium metabolism in a manner that could be construed as being detrimental to bone formation and maintenance; these changes apparently were enhanced by low dietary magnesium. Changes caused by boron deprivation included depressed plasma ionized calcium and calcitonin as well as elevated plasma total calcium and urinary excretion of calcium. In one human study, magnesium deprivation depressed plasma ionized calcium and cholesterol. Because boron and/or magnesium deprivation causes changes similar to those seen in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, these elements are apparently needed for optimal calcium metabolism and are thus needed to prevent the excessive bone loss which often occurs in postmenopausal women and older men.

Topics: Animals; Bone and Bones; Boron; Calcium; Female; Humans; Magnesium; Magnesium Deficiency; Nutritional Requirements; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal

Magnesium (115 and 315 mg/d) and boron (0.23 and 3.23 mg/d) were fed in a double-blind Latin squares design to 13 healthy postmenopausal women (aged 50-78 years) living on a metabolic unit. An eight-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during the last week of each of four 6-week dietary periods. Power and coherence measures were determined for each of four EEG frequency bands: delta (1-3 Hz), theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), and beta (13-18 Hz). Compared to high dietary magnesium, the low magnesium intake increased total power in the frontal regions and right temporal and parietal regions and resulted in frequency-specific increases in left occipital delta power, theta power in all but the left temporal region, alpha power in the right frontal and right temporal regions, and beta power in the frontal regions. The proportion of theta to total power in the parietal regions also increased with the low magnesium intake. While magnesium effects were observed primarily during eyes-closed conditions, effects of dietary boron on EEG power were found only during eyes-open conditions. Relative to high dietary boron, the low boron intake increased delta power in the left parietal and left occipital regions, increased the proportion of delta to total power in the frontal regions, and decreased relative right frontal theta, right frontal alpha, and left frontal beta power. Additional magnesium and boron effects were evident in the measures of EEG coherence. Thus relatively short periods of marginal magnesium and boron deprivation can affect brain function in healthy older women. The findings extend previous qualitative observations of increased CNS activity following severe magnesium deprivation and deficiency to cases of experimentally induced marginal magnesium deficiency, and verify CNS hyperexcitability by quantitative analysis of the EEG.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Boron; Brain; Diet; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Magnesium Deficiency; Middle Aged; Postmenopause

A study with human volunteers was conducted to test the hypothesis that naturally occurring inadequate intakes of magnesium induce negative magnesium balance and undesirable changes in calcium metabolism variables, and that these changes are influenced by dietary boron. Diets composed of ordinary Western foods providing approximately 118 and 318 mg Mg/d and approximately 0.25 and 3.25 mg B/d were fed in a double-blind Latin square design to 13 healthy, post menopausal Caucasian women (aged 50-78 years) living in a metabolic unit. Magnesium balance, which was positive when dietary magnesium was 318 mg/d, became negative when dietary magnesium was 118 mg/d. Magnesium deprivation decreased urinary calcium excretion, and significantly increased calcium balance when balance data analyzed came from all collections during the 42-day periods. Urinary phosphorus excretion was increased, but fecal phosphorus excretion was decreased, thus phosphorus balance was not significantly affected by magnesium deprivation. Magnesium deprivation did not affect manganese or zinc balance. The balance data indicated that 700 mg of calcium, 1.0 mg of manganese, and 10 mg of zinc were adequate for post menopausal women. Magnesium deprivation increased serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol and decreased serum total cholesterol concentrations. Boron deprivation increased but magnesium deprivation decreased urinary potassium excretion. Boron supplementation decreased serum 17beta-estradiol and progesterone when dietary magnesium was low. The dietary treatments did not affect serum calcitonin, parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin or alkaline phosphatase concentrations. One woman placed on consecutive magnesium-low dietary periods exhibited heart ventricular ectopy after consuming the magnesium-low diet for 72 days; the ectopy disappeared upon consuming the magnesium-adequate diet. The findings indicated that consuming an ordinary diet deficient in magnesium, resulting in negative magnesium balance, can affect calcium, potassium, and cholesterol metabolism. Dietary boron did not have an obvious effect on the response to magnesium deprivation.

Topics: Aged; Boron; Calcium; Double-Blind Method; Female; Humans; Magnesium; Magnesium Deficiency; Middle Aged; Phosphorus; Postmenopause

Magnesium (Mg) participates in many biochemical reactions which involve a variety of other nutrients. To elucidate some nutrient interactions, fructose (FR) and starch (ST) were compared as carbohydrate sources, and boron (B) and copper (Cu) were added to low-Mg diets for young male rats. Lack of Mg always caused characteristic deficiency symptoms. FR resembled Mg deficiency in effects on body, liver, and kidney weights and on plasma cholesterol level, but did not affect serum Mg or calcium (Ca). FR effects apparently were not mediated by changes in plasma Mg and Ca concentrations and were not prevented by adding Cu. B appeared to lessen effects of a low-Mg diet on body growth, serum cholesterol, and ash concentration in bone, but exacerbated deficiency symptoms, without affecting the concentration of Mg or Ca in serum. Results suggest that increased FR intake and marginal B might adversely affect individuals whose Mg status is suboptimal.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bone and Bones; Boron; Cholesterol; Copper; Fructose; Immune System; Kidney; Magnesium Deficiency; Male; Organ Size; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Two experiments were performed to confirm that boron interacts with calcium, and that this interaction can be modified by dietary magnesium and potassium in the rat. Upon manipulating the dietary variables listed above, it was found that under certain conditions, boron and calcium deprivation similarly affected several variables; for example, they both could be made to elevate plasma alkaline phosphatase activity and to depress femur calcium concentration. Under some dietary conditions, both boron and calcium deprivation affected some variables related to blood or iron metabolism. However, the effects of dietary boron and calcium on spleen weight/body weight ratio, hematocrit, and femur iron concentration generally were not similar. Femur copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc also were affected by an interaction between boron and calcium under some dietary conditions. The findings show that there is a relationship between boron and calcium, but they do not clearly indicate the nature of the relationship. However, the data suggest that boron and calcium act on similar systems in the rat.

Topics: Alkaline Phosphatase; Animals; Body Weight; Bone Density; Boron; Brain; Calcium; Calcium, Dietary; Growth; Magnesium; Magnesium Deficiency; Male; Organ Size; Potassium, Dietary; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Spleen