Protective effect of magnesium supplementation on experimental 3-methyl cholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma and changes in tissue magnesium distribution during carcinogenesis in rats.

In this study, we wanted to examine the effect of magnesium (Mg2+) supplementation on the experimental 3-methyl cholanthrene (3-MC)-induced fibrosarcoma and alterations in (Mg2+) distribution in several tissues of the rats, during carcinogenesis. It was determined that serum and tissue (Mg2+) levels of the rats in (Mg2+)-supplemented diet group were higher than those of the rats in the (Mg2+)-nonsupplemented and control groups. The mean time of fibrosarcoma development for (Mg2+)-supplemented group was longer than (Mg2+)-nonsupplemented group (p < 0.05). Symptoms of hypermagnesemia were not observed in any of the rats. These results suggests that dietary (Mg2+) supplementation may have a partial anti-carcinogenic effect on experimental 3-MC-induced fibrosarcoma by prolongation of the latent period of carcinogenesis.