title: Erythrocyte intracellular Mg(2+) concentration as an index of recognition and memory.
abstract: Magnesium (Mg(2+)) plays an important role in the neural system, and yet scarcely any research has quantitatively analyzed the link between endogenous Mg(2+) level and memory. Using our original technique, we measured erythrocyte intracellular ionized Mg(2+) concentration (RBC [Mg(2+)]i), which linearly correlated to recognition and spatial memory in normal aging rats. In the brain, RBC [Mg(2+)]i significantly correlated to hippocampus extracellular fluid Mg(2+) concentration, and further correlated to hippocampal synapse density. Elevation of Mg(2+) intake in aged rats demonstrated an association between RBC [Mg(2+)]i increase and memory recovery. The therapeutic effect of Mg(2+) administration was inversely correlated to individual basal RBC [Mg(2+)]i. In summary, we provide a method to measure RBC [Mg(2+)]i, an ideal indicator of body Mg(2+) level. RBC [Mg(2+)]i represents rodent memory performance in our study, and might further serve as a potential biomarker for clinical differential diagnosis and precise treatment of Mg(2+)-deficiency-associated memory decline during aging.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yaru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guosong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang