American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 13, 331-339, Copyright © 1963 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Magnesium Balance Studies in South African Bantu Children with Kwashiorkor

¹ From the National Nutrition Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa

In an attempt to assess the state of magnesium nutrition in kwashiorkor, sixty-two magnesium balance studies were carried out on thirty-one patients. The balance studies were commenced within six days after the day of admission and repeated two and a half to three weeks after admission. During twenty-two of the balance studies additional magnesium was given parenterally to the patients.

The most noteworthy finding was the low excretion of magnesium in the urine of the patients who did not receive additional magnesium parenterally. In the patients who received additional parenteral doses of magnesium, urinary excretion during the first balance studies amounted, on the average, to only 40 per cent of the injected dose. These findings were probably indicative of magnesium deficiency despite the fact that the magnesium content of the serum and red blood cells was almost invariably within the normal range.

Twelve negative balances, three in the first and nine in the second studies, occurred in the patients who did not receive additional magnesium parenterally. This was due to excessive loss of magnesium in the stools, indicating impaired absorption. No correlation could, however, be established between fecal magnesium content and severity of diarrhea.