A chronic low-dose magnesium L-lactate administration has a beneficial effect on the myocardium and the skeletal muscles.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether magnesium L-lactate is responsible for having a beneficial effect on the myocardium and the skeletal muscles and how this substrate acts at the molecular level. Twenty seven young male Wistar rats were supplied with a magnesium L-lactate (L) solution, a magnesium chloride (M) solution and/or water (W) as a vehicle for 10 weeks. The treated animals absorbed the L and M solutions as they wished since they also had free access to water. After 9 weeks of treatment, in vivo cardiac function was determined ultrasonically. The animals were sacrificed at the end of the tenth week of treatment and the heart was perfused according to the Langendorff method by using a technique allowing the determination of cardiomyocyte activity (same coronary flow in the two groups). Blood was collected and skeletal muscles of the hind legs were weighed. The myocardial expressions of the sodium/proton exchange 1 (NHE1) and sodium/calcium exchange 1 (NCX1), intracellular calcium accumulation, myocardial magnesium content, as well as systemic and tissue oxidative stress, were determined. Animals of the L group absorbed systematically a low dose of L-lactate (31.5 ± 4.3 µg/100 g of body weight/day) which was approximately four times higher than that ingested in the W group through the diet supplied. Ex vivo cardiomyocyte contractility and the mass of some skeletal muscles (tibialis anterior) were increased by the L treatment. Myocardial calcium was decreased, as was evidenced by an increase in total CaMKII expression, without any change in the ratio between phosphorylated CaMKII and total CaMKII. Cardiac magnesium tended to be elevated. Our results suggest that the increased intracellular magnesium concentration was related to L-lactate-induced cytosolic acidosis and to the activation of the NHE1/NCX1 axis. Interestingly, systemic oxidative stress was reduced by the L treatment whereas the lipid profile of the animals was unaltered. Taken together, these results suggest that a chronic low-dose L-lactate intake has a beneficial health effect on some skeletal muscles and the myocardium through the activation of the NHE1/NCX1 axis, a decrease in cellular calcium and an increase in cellular magnesium. The treatment can be beneficial for the health of young rodents in relation to chronic oxidative stress-related diseases.