Restricting dietary magnesium accelerates ectopic connective tissue mineralization in a mouse model of pseudoxanthoma elasticum (Abcc6(-/-) ).

ABSTRACT: Ectopic mineralization, linked to a number of diseases, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in humans. Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a heritable multisystem disorder characterized by calcium phosphate deposition in various tissues. The mineral content of diet has been suggested to modify the disease severity in PXE. The aim of this study is to explore the role of diet with reduced magnesium in modifying tissue mineralization in a mouse model of PXE. Abcc6(-/-) mice were placed on either standard rodent diet (control) or an experimental diet low in magnesium at weaning (4 weeks) and examined for mineralization in the skin and internal organs at the ages of 1.5, 2 or 6 months by computerized morphometric analysis of histopathological sections and by chemical assay of calcium and

SUBMITTER: Jiang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3422765 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature