Effects of magnesium deficiency on magnesium and calcium content in bone and cartilage in developing rats in correlation to chondrotoxicity

Quinolone-induced arthropathy has been described in juvenile rats between 3 and 6 weeks of age, but not in adult rats. The mechanism of this chondrotoxic effect is probably related to the Mg2+-chelating properties of the drugs, since identical cartilage lesions were observed in magnesium-deficient juvenile rats without quinolone treatment. However, the reasons for the phase-specificity of the effect are unknown. In the present study, we fed a magnesium-deficient diet to Wistar rats at different postnatal developmental stages. Cartilage lesions were only observed in magnesium-deficient rats between 3 and 5 weeks of age, but not in rats receiving the magnesium-deficient diet during weeks 5 to 8, weeks 8 to 11, or months 15 to 16. The formation of cartilage lesions was not related to the magnesium concentration in plasma, since magnesium concentrations in plasma were similarly reduced in rats with and without cartilage lesions. However, chondrotoxicity correlated with magnesium content in articular cartilage. In articular cartilage (articular and epiphyseal cartilage in immature rats) and bone, magnesium content was more reduced in rats receiving the magnesium-deficient diet between 3 and 5 weeks of age as compared with rats receiving the magnesium-deficient diet during weeks 8 to 11 postnatally. It was not possible to reduce the magnesium content in bone tissue of 15-month-old Wistar rats, which suggests a lower magnesium turnover in aged rats. Magnesium content in epiphyseal cartilage of 2-week-old rats (total femoral head) was 41.9 +/- 16.9 mmol/kg dry weight. The magnesium content in joint hyaline cartilage was significantly lower in 4-week-old rats (19.5 +/- 3.6 mmol/kg dry weight) and increased subsequently again to 48.5 +/- 9.2 mmol/kg dry weight (mean +/- SD; n = 8 to 16). Increase of the magnesium content in femoral bone between weeks 4 and 6 postnatally was less pronounced (139 +/- 10 and 175 +/- 15 mmol/kg dry weight, respectively). Taken together, these data show that in 4-week-old rats, magnesium concentration in joint hyaline cartilage is significantly lower than at other times during postnatal development. Only at this developmental stage can cartilage lesions be induced by feeding rats a magnesium-deficient diet. This period correlates well with the sensitive phase of immature rats toward the chondrotoxic action of quinolones.