title: Determination of red blood cell intracellular free magnesium by nuclear magnetic resonance as an assessment of magnesium depletion.
abstract: Red blood (RBC) ionized magnesium (Mg2+) was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in order to assess the usefulness of this technique as an index of magnesium depletion. Twenty-four normal subjects underwent a 3-week low-Mg diet. The RBC Mg2+ fell from 209 +/- 9.8 microM before diet to 162 +/- 9.3 microM at the end of the 3 weeks (p < 0.001). In patient populations, 22 hypomagnesemic hospitalized patients had a significantly lower RBC Mg than normal (146 +/- 7.1 microM, p < 0.002), and 37 outpatients with diabetes mellitus had a mean RBC Mg2+ of 172 +/- 7.1 microM which was also significantly lower than normal (p < 0.001). These data suggest that determination of RBC Mg2+ may be used to reflect intracellular Mg status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Rude
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stephen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nadler
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008274:Magnesium / Q000097:blood*; D008275:Magnesium Deficiency / Q000097:blood*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
chemical_list: D008274:Magnesium