Manganese (blood)

The range applies to whole blood (for example 73 to 210 nmol/L); serum or plasma manganese is many times lower, with its own range, and ranges vary between laboratories.

Manganese is a trace element needed by several enzymes for bone formation, energy production and protection against cell damage. It comes from cereals, nuts, tea and vegetables, and shortage on an ordinary diet is almost unknown. The blood test is used mainly to look for too much manganese, which builds up in the brain and can cause a Parkinson's-like condition.

It is requested in people on long-term intravenous feeding, where manganese in the feed can accumulate, in liver disease, in welders and others exposed at work, in people drinking well water high in manganese, and when unexplained movement or balance problems are being looked into. It appears on some private nutrition panels.

• Long-term intravenous feeding containing manganese
• Liver disease and cholestasis, because manganese leaves the body in bile
• Welding, mining, battery, steel and some agricultural work
• Well water high in manganese
• Iron deficiency, which increases how much manganese the gut absorbs
• Pregnancy, in the general population

• A diet very low in cereals, nuts and vegetables over months, which is rare
• Poor absorption and weight-loss surgery, occasionally
• Some rare inherited conditions

• Whole blood values are ten or twenty times higher than serum values, so the sample type has to match the range
• Blood collected in a standard tube rather than a trace-element tube can be contaminated
• Low iron stores raise it without any exposure

A whole blood EDTA sample in a trace-element tube, no fasting needed. The sample type (whole blood versus serum) has to be matched to the range printed.

Written by a UK consultant physician. Typical UK adult reference ranges; your laboratory's own printed range takes precedence.