Magnesium Switch Key of COVID.19 Morbidity , Mortality and Treatment
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Date
2021
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جامعة الشيخ عبدالله البدري
Abstract
Magnesium is the eighth most widespread element in the layer of the Earth. The most
abundant source of biologically accessible magnesium, though, is the hydrosphere
(i.e. oceans and rivers). In the sea, the concentration of magnesium is 55 mmol/L
and in the Dead Seaas an extreme examplethe concentration is documented to be
198 mmol/L magnesium. Magnesium salts easily dissolved in water and are much
more soluble than the respective calcium salts. As a result, magnesium is readily
obtainable to organisms. It plays a significant role in vegetation and animals alike. In
plants, magnesium is the vital ion of chlorophyll. In vertebrates, magnesium is the
fourth most abundant cation and is essential, especially within cells, being the second
most frequent intracellular cation after potassium, with both these elements being
fundamental for numerous physiological tasks.
It is a Group 2 (alkaline earth) element within the periodic table and has a relative
atomic mass of 24.305 Da, a specific gravity at 20°C of 1.738, a melting point of
648.8°C and a boiling point of 1090°C. In the dissolved state, magnesium binds
hydration water tighter than calcium, potassium and sodium. Thus, the hydrated
magnesium cation is hard to dehydrate. Its radius is 400 times larger than its
dehydrated radius. This difference between the hydrated and the dehydrated state is
much more prominent than in sodium (25-fold), calcium (25-fold) or potassium
(4-fold). Consequently, the ionic radius of dehydrated magnesium is small but
biologically relevant. This simple fact explains a
including its often antagonistic behavior to calcium, despite similar chemical
reactivity and charge. For instance, it is almost impossible for magnesium to pass
through narrow channels in biological membranes that can be readily traversed by
calcium because magnesium, unlike calcium, cannot be easily stripped of its
hydration shell. Steric constraints for magnesium transporters are also far greater than
for any other cation transport system