Plasma kinetics of magnesium and calcium stable isotope tracers in a human subject after simultaneous oral ingestion of 25Mg and 44Ca determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry.

The plasma concentrations of stable isotope tracers of magnesium (25Mg) and calcium (44Ca) were determined during a 50 h period, after simultaneous oral tracer ingestion in an adult man. The measurements were performed by magnetic sector field mass spectrometry using surface ionization ion sources. The data were used to evaluate the potential of this method in long-term kinetic studies. It is concluded that under the experimental conditions specified, the isotopic tracers will be detectable in blood plasma with sufficient precision and accuracy for approximately 600 h after oral ingestion. The differences in the plasma concentration curves of 25Mg and 44Ca were analysed by means of the convolution integral method. These differences indicate inhomogeneities in the distribution of absorption activity relative to magnesium and calcium within the upper small intestine.