Skeletal myopathy and magnesium depletion: cellular mechanisms.

Muscle weakness and abnormal electrical activity of muscle cells have been described in magnesium-depleted patients and animals. The cellular mechanisms by which magnesium depletion causes the skeletal myopathy are not known. We review here the available clinical and experimental data on the effects of magnesium on: skeletal muscle cellular bioenergetics; excitation-contraction coupling, and biochemical and functional integrity of the cellular membrane. The data suggest that abnormalities in one or more of the above pathways may mediate the myopathy of magnesium depletion.