Background and objective: An essential step in the pathogenesis of hereditary hemochromatosis seems to be the increased expression of a duodenal divalent cation transporter (DMT1) responsible for absorption of non-heminic iron2+. The objective of the present study was to ascertain whether the competitive blockade of DMT1 by the administration of high doses of oral Mg2+ reduces iron absorption in patients homozygous for the C282Y mutation.
Patients and method: Iron absorption was evaluated by a low dose iron absorption test in 15 patients before and after treatment with oral magnesium (809.6 mg every 8 hours) for two weeks.
Results: We did not observe secondary effects or significant differences in iron absorption before or after magnesium treatment (14.7 micromol/L; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.8-19.6 vs 14.9 micromol/L; 95% CI, 8.5-21.4, P = 0.7).
Conclusions: Treatment with oral magnesium does not reduce iron absorption in homozygous C282Y patients. This treatment can not be used in these subjects.