Serum magnesium, copper, and zinc concentrations in acute myocardial infarction.

This study was carried out to assess the serum levels of magnesium, copper, and zinc after an acute episode of myocardial infarction. Determination of the metal concentrations were carried out on 41 patients with myocardial infarction and 41 healthy controls matched for age and sex. A slight decrease in the mean level of magnesium (P less than .05) was observed in patients (2.0 mg/dl) compared with the controls (2.1 mg/dl). The mean serum copper concentration was significantly higher (P less than .001) in patients (138 micrograms/dl) than in controls (98 micrograms/dl), while the mean serum zinc concentration was significantly lower (P less than .001) in patients (75 micrograms/dl) than in controls (100 micrograms/dl). The differences in serum copper and zinc levels between patients and controls were magnified considerably when the copper/zinc ratios were calculated for both groups (P less than .001). The mean copper/zinc value obtained for patients (1.91) was almost double that for the controls (1.02).