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3236022 
Journal Article 
Intravenous magnesium sulfate for bronchial hyperreactivity: A randomized, controlled, double-blind study 
Schenk, P; Vonbank, K; Schnack, B; Haber, P; Lehr, S; Smetana, R 
2001 
Yes 
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
ISSN: 0009-9236
EISSN: 1532-6535 
69 
5 
365-371 
WOS:000169047900011 
Background: Magnesium has been shown to be helpful in the
treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma. Conflicting data exist concerning the effect of
magnesium on bronchial hyperreactivity: Methods: We performed a randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled study to investigate the effect of intravenous magnesium sulfate on bronchial
reactivity to metacholine in 30 subjects with bronchial hyperreactivity. Two days after baseline
metacholine provocation, 20 subjects received 0.3 mmol/kg/h of intravenous magnesium sulfate and
10 subjects received normal saline solution. Metacholine provocation was repeated 30 minutes
after the initiation of the magnesium or placebo infusion. Results: The difference of the
postinterventional minus the baseline provocative dose of metacholine required to decrease the
forced expiratory volume in 1 second by 20% (PC20) was significantly higher in the magnesium
group compared with the placebo group (0.48 +/- 0.46 mg/mL versus 0.05 +/- 0.73 mg/mL, P =.028),
In the magnesium group, the PC20 significantly increased (from 0.83 +/- 0.54 mg/mL to 1.31 +/-
0.66 mg/mL, P =.0001), whereas there was no change in the placebo group (0.86 +/- 0.52 mg/mL to
0.91 +/- 0.54 mg/mL, P =.83). Conclusions: In the magnesium group, 30% of the subjects reached a
normal PC20 compared with 10% in the placebo group. We conclude that intravenous magnesium
sulfate significantly improved bronchial hyperreactivity and may serve as an adjunct to standard
treatment.