title: Alcohols induce rapid depletion of intracellular free Mg2+ in cerebral vascular muscle cells: relation to chain length and partition coefficient.
abstract: Acute effects of a series of alcohols (methanol, ethanol, n-butanol) on intracellular free magnesium concentration ([Mg2+]i) in canine cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells was studied using mag-fura-2 and digital imaging microscopy. In 1.2 mM [Mg2+]o, basal [Mg2+]i was 500 +/- 30 microM. Exposure of cells to a low concentration (25 mM) of ethanol, but not methanol, for only 30 s resulted in significant loss of [Mg2+]i. Exposure to 100 mM methanol, ethanol, and butanol for 30 s resulted in a relative order of potency for [Mg2+]i depletion, where butanol >> ethanol > methanol. The heterogeneous and relative subcellular compartmented concentrations of [Mg2+]i, where perinuclear > nuclear >> peripheral (cytosolic) region, was not significantly altered by the alcohols. The degree of cellular depletion of [Mg2+]i was directly a function of each alcohol's partition coefficient and chain length. The latter is suggestive of the probability that alcohols promote intracellular depletion of Mg2+ by partitioning in membranes and disordering lipid bilayers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, State University of New York, Health Science Center at Brooklyn 11203, USA.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Altura
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Altura
mesh_terms: D020001:1-Butanol; D000438:Alcohols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000440:Butanols / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004285:Dogs; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000378:metabolism*; D000432:Methanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D000440:Butanols; D000431:Ethanol; D020001:1-Butanol; D008274:Magnesium; D000432:Methanol