Background: Hypermanganesemia and cholestatic liver disease are both recognized complications of long-term IV nutrition. Manganese is primarily excreted in bile, and recent studies have indicated that manganese toxicity may play a role in the pathogenesis of IV nutrition-associated cholestasis.
Methods: Whole blood and plasma manganese concentrations were measured in patients receiving long-term home IV nutrition (HIN, n = 30). Whole blood manganese concentrations also were measured in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD, n = 10) and control subjects (n = 10).
Results: Whole blood manganese concentrations of all CLD patients were within the reference interval (73 to 210 nmol/L) and were not different from those of the control group (151 +/- 44 nmol/L, CLD vs 155 +/- 35 nmol/L, control; not significant), despite the presence of cholestasis. In contrast, whole blood manganese concentration was increased (>210 nmol/L) in 26 patients, and plasma manganese concentration increased (>23 nmol/L) in 23 of the patients receiving HIN. None of the patients exhibited neurologic signs of manganese toxicity. There was no correlation between whole blood manganese concentrations and markers of cholestasis, IV manganese intake, or duration of HIN. However, plasma manganese concentration correlated both with average weekly IV manganese intake (r = .44, p = .02) and with gamma-glutamyl transferase (r = .43, p = .02) and alkaline phosphatase activities (r = .55, p = .003).
Conclusions: Cholestatic liver disease does not appear to contribute to increased whole blood manganese concentrations in patients not receiving HIN. Plasma manganese concentrations in patients receiving HIN reflect recent manganese exposure and impaired excretion where cholestasis is present. The lack of relationship between plasma and whole blood manganese concentrations suggests that factors other than manganese intake and excretion affect intracellular concentrations.