HEALTH NEWS

Study Title:

Changes in the erythrocyte membrane during magnesium deficiency

Study Abstract

Several parameters were investigated to assess the properties of the erythrocyte membrane from male rats of initial weight 85 g that were subjected to dietary magnesium depletion for four weeks. The ghost membranes from these cells had an increased fluidity compared with controls, as monitored by fluorescence polarization using the probe diphenylhexatriene. Intract erythrocytes from the same rats had a reduced osmotic fragility to hypotonic salin solutions and measurement of intracellular/extracellular ratios suggested an increased permeability to the loss of cellular magnesium and potassium, and the gain of sodium, in magnesium-deficient animals. The significance of these membrane changes in relation to the anaemia that develops during magnesium deficiency is uncertain, but they may be the primary lesion underlying disturbances in cellular metabolism.