ABSTRACT
The renal excretion of hydroxyproline is decreased in magnesium deficiency; repletion of magnesium results in a rapid increase in the rate of its excretion. When experimental animals are placed on a synthetic diet containing less than 1 meq of magnesium per kilogram of feed, the onset of clinical changes is very rapid, being detectable within a few days. The first attempt to deprive an animal of magnesium was made in 1918. It was unsuccessful because the “magnesium-free” diet still contained over 100 ppm of magnesium, and no untoward effects were apparent. In the magnesium-deficient fetuses, erythropoiesis was significantly greater in liver, adrenal glands, and spleen than in the controls; maturation was normoblastic. Peripheral blood smears showed an obvious macrocytosis, poikilocytosis, and erythroblastosis. A dietary deficiency of magnesium has been shown repeatedly to cause hypercalcemia in the adult rat, whereas cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs develop hypocalcemia under comparable conditions.
