Bronchodilating Effect of Intravenous Magnesium Sulfate in Bronchial Asthma

Abstract

The bronchodilating effect of magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) was studied in ten asthmatic patients with mild attacks. In five patients, 0.5 mmol/min of MgSO4 was administered intravenously for 20 minutes, and the time courses of respiratory resistance, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume at 1 s were studied. In another five patients, MgSO4 dose-response curves were obtained. Soon after administration began, MgSO4 relieved bronchoconstriction in a dose-dependent manner. Maximum responses (mean +/- SE) of respiratory resistance, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume were 71% +/- 3%, 117% +/- 5%, and 118% +/- 1% of initial values, respectively, and were similar to the effects of additional albuterol inhalation. The infusion of MgSO4 also improved dyspnea and piping rales in three other asthmatic patients with a severe attack. We conclude that intravenous infusion of MgSO4 produces a rapid and marked bronchodilation in both mild and severe asthma and may be a unique bronchodilating agent.

Safety of prolonged magnesium sulfate infusions during treatment for severe pediatric status asthmaticus

“…Consequently, pediatric practitioners are left with extrapolating from adult data, which suggest that target levels of 3 to 5 mg/dL are both efficacious and well tolerated. 3,4,6,[10][11][12][13][14] Our primary objective in this retrospective study was to evaluate the frequency and types of adverse events associated with prolonged Mg infusions (>24 hours) in children being treated for status asthmaticus in the PICU setting. Secondary objectives were to determine the incidence of hyper/hypomagnesemia and relate these to dosing strategies and adverse events.…”

Magnesium sulfate for acute asthma in adults: a systematic literature review

“…Historically, in the literature, the first description on the clinical use of magnesium for asthma was reported in 1936 [6]. In 1987, Okayama et al [7] reported rapid bronchodilating effects of intravenous (IV) MgSO 4 infusion in 10 asthma patients. In 1989, its effect was also reported for prevention of endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation in an elderly asthma patient with severe exacerbation [8].…”

Dose‐response relationship and time‐course of the effect of inhaled magnesium sulphate on airflow in normal and asthmatic subjects.

“…Benefit from intravenous magnesium in acute and stable asthma has been reported in several uncontrolled [11][12][13][14] and controlled [15][16][17] studies, although not all studies have confirmed this [18,19]. There is much less information available on the effects of inhaled magnesium on the airway, but two studies of single doses of nebulized magnesium have demonstrated protection against bronchoconstriction induced by methacholine and histamine, by the order of a two fold increase in the PD20 for these agents [20,21].…”