A potential link between magnesium intake and diabetes in Indigenous Australians

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included. See page 3 of PDF for this item.Diane A Longstreet, Deanne L Heath, Robert Vin

Poor food and nutrient intake among Indigenous and non-Indigenous rural Australian children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to describe the food and nutrient intake of a population of rural Australian children particularly Indigenous children. Participants were aged 10 to 12 years, and living in areas of relative socio-economic disadvantage on the north coast of New South Wales.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this descriptive cross-sectional study 215 children with a mean age of 11.30 (SD 0.04) years (including 82 Indigenous children and 93 boys) completed three 24-hour food recalls (including 1 weekend day), over an average of two weeks in the Australian summer of late 2005.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A high proportion of children consumed less than the Australian Nutrient Reference Values for fibre (74-84% less than Adequate Intake (AI)), calcium (54-86% less than Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)), folate and magnesium (36% and 28% respectively less than EAR among girls), and the majority of children exceeded the upper limit for sodium (68-76% greater than Upper Limit (UL)). Energy-dense nutrient-poor (EDNP) food consumption contributed between 45% and 49% to energy. Hot chips, sugary drinks, high-fat processed meats, salty snacks and white bread were the highest contributors to key nutrients and sugary drinks were the greatest <it>per capita </it>contributor to daily food intake for all. <it>Per capita </it>intake differences were apparent by Indigenous status. Consumption of fruit and vegetables was low for all children. Indigenous boys had a higher intake of energy, macronutrients and sodium than non-Indigenous boys.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The nutrient intake and excessive EDNP food consumption levels of Australian rural children from disadvantaged areas are cause for concern regarding their future health and wellbeing, particularly for Indigenous boys. Targeted intervention strategies should address the high consumption of these foods.</p

Correlation between total and ionic magnesium concentration in human serum samples is independent of ethnicity or diabetic state

Copyright © 2007 John Libbey Eurotext - All rights reservedThe relationship between total and ionic serum magnesium in health and chronic disease across different ethnicities has not been well studied. Accordingly, we have examined the interrelationship between total magnesium and ionic magnesium, as well as ionic calcium to ionic magnesium ratio, in 286 patients made up of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, with or without diabetes. Significant correlations were noted between total and ionic magnesium in all groups (p < 0.001). Amongst people with diabetes, the correlation coefficient (r) was 0.81 whereas in non-diabetics, the r was 0.66. This relationship was independent of whether the sample was from indigenous (r = 0.71) or non-indigenous (r = 0.81) participants. Overall the correlation between total and ionic magnesium across all participants was 0.75. There was no correlation between serum total magnesium and serum ionic calcium (r = 0.07), and similarly none between serum ionic magnesium and serum ionic calcium (r = 0.26). There was, however, a significant negative correlation between the calcium: magnesium ratio and serum total magnesium (r = 0.80; p < 0.001) across all participants, irrespective of whether the sample was made up of indigenous (r = 0.83) or non-indigenous participants (r = 0.77), or of diabetics (r = 0.71) versus non-diabetics (r = 0.83). We conclude that total and ionic magnesium serum concentrations are strongly correlated, and that either gives an accurate assessment of magnesium status in health and chronic diabetes, irrespective of ethnicity.Diane Longstreet, Robert Vinkhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1944127

Correlations suggest low magnesium may lead to higher rates of type 2 diabetes in Indigenous Australians?

A license to publish this material has been given to AHREN http://rrh.org.auIntroduction: Diabetes accounts for a significant part of the morbidity and mortality experienced by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. Research over the past two decades has provided evidence of a clinical correlation between diabetes and low magnesium intake. Hypomagnesaemia is the most common electrolyte abnormality in diabetic outpatients and may be linked to the development of both macrovascular and microvascular diabetic complications. A diabetes risk reduction of 33%-34% has been found among those with diets highest in magnesium. Objective: This study examines the case for magnesium as a potential contributor to diabetes in Australia, especially among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Specifically explored are associations between diabetes and the magnesium content of drinking water and diet, as well as climatic and socioeconomic factors that may impact on magnesium status including temperature, rainfall, education, employment and income. Methods: Queensland age-standardized death rates due to diabetes were correlated with the magnesium content of drinking water, maximum average temperature, rainfall, unemployment rate, proportion of population with post-school qualification, weekly income, and the percentage population identified as Indigenous. Multiple-pass 24-hour recalls from a convenience sample of 100 Indigenous patients at a regional centre were also analyzed to estimate dietary magnesium intake. The Indigenous nutrient intake was then compared with the Australian National Nutrition Survey estimates. Results: Diabetes related mortality was significantly correlated to the percentage of the population identified as Indigenous (r = 0.675), to water magnesium levels (r = -.414), and to average maximum daily temperature (r = 0.579). The average daily magnesium intake in an Indigenous cohort from a regional centre was 248 mg (men: 267 mg ± 17; women: 245 mg ± 6 mg), significantly less than intakes observed in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (p<.001). Conclusions: Although not representative of all Indigenous people, this study identified low dietary magnesium intake among an Indigenous cohort from a regional centre. We also found a significant correlation between the magnesium content of municipal water supplies and age-standardized deaths due to diabetes. We hypothesise that low magnesium dietary intake, compounded by inadequate magnesium replenishment in drinking water, may increase the risk of hypomagnesaemia in the Indigenous population of Queensland. The associations identified in this study support the hypothesis that magnesium may be a potential contributor to diabetes in Australia, especially among Indigenous people, and confirm the need for further research.DA Longstreet, DL Heath, KS Panaretto, R Vinkhttp://www.rrh.org.au/articles/showarticlenew.asp?ArticleID=84

Continuous proline catalysis via leaching of solid proline

Herein, we demonstrate that a homogeneous catalyst can be prepared continuously via reaction with a packed-bed of a catalyst precursor. Specifically, we perform continuous proline catalyzed α-aminoxylations using a packed-bed of L-proline. The system relies on a multistep sequence in which an aldehyde and thiourea additive are passed through a column of solid proline, presumably forming a soluble oxazolidinone intermediate. This transports a catalytic amount of proline from the packed-bed into the reactor coil for subsequent combination with a solution of nitrosobenzene, affording the desired optically active α-aminooxy alcohol after reduction. To our knowledge, this is the first example in which a homogeneous catalyst is produced continuously using a packed-bed. We predict that the method will not only be useful for other L-proline catalyzed reactions, but we also foresee that it could be used to produce other catalytic species in flow

Synthesis and Reactivity Profile of Ylidenemalononitrile Enamines and Their Ester Analogs Towards Electrophiles and Nucleophiles

Herein, we describe the synthesis and reactivity of enamines derived from ylidenemalononitriles and ylidenecyanoacetates. The enamine scope was expanded by (1) increasing yields of aldehyde-derived ylidenemalononitriles, (2) incorporating silyl functionalities, and (3) using other amide acetals to expand the substitution patterns of pyridines resulting from enamine cyclization. In addition, methods to produce α-pyrones and polysubstituted pyridines from both ylidenemalononitriles and ylidenecyanoacetates are described

Investigating the continuous synthesis of a nicotinonitrile precursor to nevirapine

2-Chloro-3-amino-4-picoline (CAPIC) is a strategic building block for the preparation of nevirapine, a widely-prescribed non-nucleosidic reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV-infected patients. A continuous synthesis to the bromo derivative of a CAPIC intermediate, 2-bromo-4-methylnicotinonitrile, that terminates in a dead-end crystallization is described. The route uses inexpensive, acyclic commodity-based raw materials and has the potential to enable lower cost production of nevirapine as well as other value added structures that contain complex pyridines. The route terminates in a batch crystallization yielding high purity CAPIC. This outcome is expected to facilitate regulatory implementation of the overall process

Improved Synthesis of Mono- and Disubstituted 2‑Halonicotinonitriles from Alkylidene Malononitriles

Pyridines with 2,3,4 and/or 5 substitution remain challenging to prepare. Existing strategies to form multisubstituted 2-halonicotinonitriles via enamines suffer from dimerization of the starting alkylidene malononitriles resulting in low yields. Through alteration of reaction conditions, a new high yielding method into enamines was realized by condensing DMF–DMA and alkylidene malononitriles in the presence of substoichiometric acetic anhydride. Cyclization of the resulting enamines under Pinner conditions provided 2-halonicotinonitriles in high overall yields

Continuous Synthesis and Use of <i>N</i>‑Heterocyclic Carbene Copper(I) Complexes from Insoluble Cu₂O

It is demonstrated that homogeneous <i>N</i>-heterocyclic carbene–copper(I)-chloride complexes can be prepared continuously by flowing NHC precursors through a packed bed of solid Cu₂O suspended in molecular sieves. The method enables the synthesis of a wide range of complexes including those that are challenging to prepare using standard approaches. Our strategy enables both sustained output of complex production for long-term catalytic reactions (greater than 5 h) and for generation of gram quantities for storage (greater than 1 g of complex in ∼16 min)