Increased erythrocyte magnesium in untreated essential hypertension.

In the present study we tested the hypothesis of magnesium deficiency and intracellular magnesium depletion in essential hypertension. Atomic absorption was used to determine the erythrocyte content of magnesium in 50-year-old otherwise healthy white men with never-treated, essential hypertension (n = 12, supine blood pressure 155 +/- 4/109 +/- 2 mmHg) and in a group of particularly well-matched normotensive control subjects. The erythrocyte magnesium content was higher in the hypertensive group (P less than 0.001). No significant difference between the groups was detected for serum concentration or the 24-h urinary excretion of the magnesium. In conclusion, magnesium deficiency is unlikely in white middle-aged hypertensive men.