Magnesium content of mononuclear cells, erythrocytes and 24-hour urine in carefully screened apparently healthy Israelis.

Twenty apparently healthy Israelis aged 16-52, examined for their history of disease and, carefully screened to exclude concurrent infection or medication, abuse of alcohol or drugs, and pathological findings on routine laboratory estimation, were examined to establish the reference range for the magnesium content of mononuclear cells. The magnesium content of mononuclear cells was estimated according to modified method of Elin & Hosseini (Clin. Chem. 31 (1985) 377-380), together with serum magnesium concentration (S-Mg) and erythrocyte magnesium content. In 10 subjects, aged 23-37 years, 24 h urinary magnesium (U-Mg) was also determined. The mean magnesium content of mononuclear cells was 164.8 fg/cell (SD 28.3 fg/cell). The mean erythrocyte magnesium content was 2.02 (SD 0.16) mmol/l. The magnesium content of mononuclear cells was significantly correlated to U-Mg (r = 0.704, p less than 0.01), suggesting that U-Mg may have a potential value as an index of intracellular Mg content.