SERUM MAGNESIUM IN THYROID DISEASE

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Abstract
Serum from post-absorptive venous blood was ultrafiltered by an anaerobic technique previously described by Lavietes. Mg was detd. on ashes of serum and ultrafiltrate by precipitation as the ammonium phosphate. The difference between the concs. of Mg in serum and ultrafiltrate is designated bound Mg. In 14 normal subjects, the non-ultrafiltrable, or bound, fraction of the serum Mg was 17-31% of the total. In each of 9 proved untreated cases of hyperthyroidism, bound Mg exceeded these values, and ultrafiltrable Mg was subnormal. In 4 patients with myxedema, all of the Mg of the serum was ultrafiltrable. After therapy of thyroid dysfunction, bound and ultrafiltrable Mg return to normal. In 8 patients with hypermetabolism without hyperthyroidism, bound Mg was normal. Since bound Mg is correlated, at least roughly, with serum I, it is suggested that the Mg may be associated with the circulating thyroid hormone, or with a complex in which this hormone functions, possibly an enzyme system. Attention is drawn to the anomalous reciprocal changes of bound and free Mg, total Mg being remarkably constant.