Studies of the effects of inhaled magnesium on airway reactivity to histamine and adenosine monophosphate in asthmatic subjects.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Adenosine Monophosphate and Histamine in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Magnesium is a cation with smooth muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory effects and may therefore have a role in the therapy of asthma.

Several studies have investigated the effects of intravenous magnesium in acute or stable asthma, but little is known about the effects of inhaled magnesium.

Who Took Part

The study group was 10 subjects.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Two separate randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover studies, each involving 10 asthmatic subjects.

In the AMP study, a single measurement of airway reactivity was made 5 min after magnesium or placebo.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

The subjects were allocated by chance, so the Adenosine Monophosphate group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Adenosine Monophosphate.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of Adenosine Monophosphate, giving a reference point.

In the crossover set-up each of the subjects took both Adenosine Monophosphate and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

In the histamine study, airway reactivity to histamine was measured and lung function allowed to recover spontaneously over 50 min before administering nebulized magnesium sulphate or saline placebo.

Airway reactivity to histamine was then measured at 5 and 50 min.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adenosine Monophosphate, Administration, Inhalation, Asthma, Bronchial Hyperreactivity, Bronchial Provocation Tests, Forced Expiratory Volume and Histamine.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Adenosine Monophosphate and Histamine in 10 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 3 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1997 (Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology), a journal based in England.

More context: all human trials.