Intracellular magnesium of mononuclear cells from venous blood of clinically healthy subjects.
Measurement of intracellular magnesium (Mg2+) may have advantages over serum Mg2+ measurements in the assessment of Mg2+ homeostasis in patients. An accurate and reproducible method of measuring the Mg2+ content of mononuclear cells (lymphocytes and monocytes) from the venous blood of human subjects utilizing commonly available reagents and equipment is described. A well-defined clinical population of 88 subjects (48 males and 40 females) was used as the normal population. The mean mononuclear cell Mg2+ content was 67.8 +/- 13.8 (SD) fg/cell giving a 95% confidence interval normal range of 40-95 fg/cell which compared favorably to the empirical 95% limits of 44-94 fg/cell. The serum Mg2+ measured at the same time was 0.90 +/- 0.06 (SD) mmol/l. No significant correlation was found when comparing serum and mononuclear cell Mg2+ concentrations. Additionally, no significant differences were found when serum and intracellular Mg2+ were analyzed for sex and age with the exception that intracellular Mg2+ tended to be slightly higher in the younger age groups. The routine performance of this assay may require as little as 7 ml of venous blood and was done with a coefficient of variation of 3.0-3.6%.
Reinhart
R A
RA
Department of Cardiology, Marshfield Clinic, WI 54449.
Marx
J J
JJ
Haas
R G
RG
Desbiens
N A
NA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000032:analysis*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000032:analysis*; D012737:Sex Factors
D008274:Magnesium