Comment · Fri, June 11, 2021 · ND Owner
Does micromag cross the BBB?
What they were answering
zerohero01 · 2 points
L-threonate apparently uses GLUT1 transporter to get magnesium across to the brain in high quantities, but I think the reason this happens is because threonate is already present in the CSF fluid. But in micromag, I dont think the compound that magnesium is attached to is found in the CSF, so one can safely assume just the normal magnesium will get into the brain. Unless micromag chemical profile has a lipophilic status facilitated difffusion into endotheial cells.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
Micromag is surrounded by a sucrester, or sucrose ester of a fatty acid. Not only is it lipophilic, but it also hydrophilic. It maintains an ideal hydrophilic-lipophilic balance to allow for both paracellular passive transport through intercellular space between cells and transcellular transport like using the GLUT1 transporter. It is completely bypassing the normal TRPM ion channels. It's ability to do that is due to the phospholipid bilayer and sucrose ester matrix that surrounds it. It stands to reason that this structure not only would allow for efficient transport across the epithelial cells cells in the GI tract, but also across the endothelial cells of the blood brain barrier. The question really becomes how much of these sucrosomes stay intact till they can reach the BBB? However, the same goes for the chelated particles of magnesium L-threonate. The magnesium and threonic acid are bound together by something called a coordinate bond. This is a type of covalent bond basically halfway between a full covalent bond and an ionic bond. While it is stronger than an ionic bond, so it doesn't immediately dissociate in solution, that doesn't mean it does not dissociate in serum. There is still the question as to how much of the chelated particles survive till they reach the BBB. They obviously dissociate at some point, or the magnesium would not be able to be used by the body. There is no question that the coordinate bonds between the ionic magnesium and threonic acid dissociate in vivo. I highly doubt they stay filly intact in serum, and only dissociate in CSF. This means the exact same question arises about Magtein as it does about Micromag. When does most of the dissociation happen, and what percentage of intact chelated/sucrosome particles reaches the blood brain barrier? We just have more data on Magtein elevating CSF levels of magnesium, so we know it is getting more magnesium to the brain than something like magnesium sulfate does. Until we have some more studies and data on how the sucrosome particles elevate magnesium levels in CSF, we can only speculate based off the properties of the particles themselves.