Ahsan S K
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
J Indian Med Assoc. 1997 Sep;95(9):507-10.
Magnesium (Mg) is an intracellular cation. It is an essential element which catalyses more than 300 enzymatic reactions, in particular those involving ATP. Approximately half of the total Mg in the body is present intracellularly in soft tissues, and the other half is present in bone. Serum Mg determination represents only 1% of total body's Mg concentration. Modern instruments will soon be available to determine physiologically active intracellular ionised Mg. Despite the ubiquitous nature of Mg, low serum Mg occurs either from decreased absorption or due to increased excretion. Hypomagnesaemia is surprisingly common in hospital populations and is more prevalent in acute than in chronic cases but often remains undetected or overlooked. Magnesium deficiency may result in hypokalaemia and hypocalcaemia. Myocardial Mg depletion may result in influx of Na+ and Ca+2 into the mitochondria which may lead to myocardial cell death. Hence, low Mg concentration may be a factor for a wide variety of clinical conditions.
镁（Mg）是一种细胞内阳离子。它是一种必需元素，催化超过300种酶促反应，特别是那些涉及三磷酸腺苷（ATP）的反应。体内约一半的总镁存在于软组织细胞内，另一半存在于骨骼中。血清镁测定仅代表全身镁浓度的1%。现代仪器很快就能用于测定具有生理活性的细胞内离子化镁。尽管镁无处不在，但血清镁水平低要么是由于吸收减少，要么是由于排泄增加。低镁血症在医院人群中出人意料地常见，在急性病例中比慢性病例更普遍，但往往仍未被发现或被忽视。镁缺乏可能导致低钾血症和低钙血症。心肌镁耗竭可能导致钠离子和钙离子流入线粒体，这可能导致心肌细胞死亡。因此，低镁浓度可能是多种临床病症的一个因素。
