CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
Manganese is an essential nutrient which serves as an activator for enzymes such as polysaccharide polymerase, liver arginase, cholinesterase and pyruvate carboxylase. Providing manganese during TPN helps prevent development of deficiency symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, weight loss, dermatitis and changes in growth and color of hair.
Under conditions of minimal intake, 20 mcg manganese/day is retained. Manganese is bound to a specific transport protein, transmanganin, a beta-l-globulin. Manganese is widely distributed but concentrates in the mitochondria rich tissues such as brain, kidney, pancreas, and liver. Assays for manganese in whole blood result in concentrations ranging from 6 to 12 mcg/manganese/liter.
Excretion of manganese occurs mainly through the bile, but in the event of obstruction, ancillary excretion routes include pancreatic juice, or return into the lumen of the duodenum, jejunum, or ileum. Urinary excretion of manganese is negligible.