Mobility of Serum Magnesium in Hypothermia

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The rate of increase of serum Mg during an acute fall in rectal temp. was studied on animals possessing diverse abilities to regulate body temp. The Mg rise (corrected for hemoconcn.) per degree of rectal temp. fall was: turtle 0.175, dog (puppies less than 1 mo. old) 0.117, hamster 0.096, white rat 0.089, cat 0.067 and dog (adult) 0.037. The turtle, with no ability to regulate body temp. showed the greatest rise of serum Mg per degree of body temp. fall, whereas the cat and dog with well developed temp. regulating mechanisms had the smallest rise of Mg per degree of body temp. fall. The rise of serum Mg was linearly related with fall in rectal temp., and appeared to be independent of the exposure time. Exposure of the turtle to cold for 15-17 days resulted in an avg. decline of serum Mg amounting to approx. 10%. A 3d of the animals showed a decline approaching 60%. A possible explanation for movement of the Mg ion in hypothermia may be its displacement by Ca which is known to enter the cell interior. A modified titan-yellow method was used for the estimation of serum Mg.