Mg & K
It is well known that hypokalemia does not correct easily if it is accompanied by hypomagnesemia. A medical student I met looked into this topic and found a “Science in Renal Medicine” article. According to this article, one of…
PPI-Associated Hypomagnesemia
At renal grand rounds today, we heard about a case of severe hypomagnesemia in a patient who was on chronic omeprazole therapy. While the etiology of the low Mg2+ was likely multifactorial, I was surprised to find out…
An excursion into Magnesium homeostasis
Magnesium (Mg++) is a predominantly intracellular divalent cation which is critical for many metabolic processes and participates in >300 enzymatic reactions. It is essential for many critical transporters including the Sodium/Potassium ATPase cotransporter. Mg++ also has a critical…
Revealed: my “covert” project with Nate a.k.a TRP channels in the kidney
Nate Hellman’s bench was three benches down from my lab. Nate and I trained together as clinical fellows. He and I had also brainstormed on research projects involving TRP channels and kidney disease. TRP channels are my research…
Differential Diagnosis of Hypomagnesemia
Why do we care about hypomagnesemia? And why are cardiologists so eager to replete the serum magnesium above 2.0 mg/dL? Very low serum Mg can result in serious cardiovascular and CNS effects. Specifically, hypomagnesemia can cause QRS widening…
The Electrolyte Composition of the Dead Sea
The Dead Sea, located between Israel and Jordan, is considered one the saltiest bodies of water on earth, giving swimmers a peculiar buoyancy when immersed. Interestingly, the electrolyte composition of the Dead Sea is quite different from that…
Magnesium Therapy in Eclampsia/Pre-Eclampsia
Eclampsia and pre-eclampsia are characterized by the new onset of hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation in a previously normotensive woman. One of the major causes of morbidity to both mother & fetus is the occurrence…
TRP Channels in Nephrology
The TRP (transient receptor potential) family of proteins is a group of related ion channels which is becoming increasingly relevant to the field of nephrologists. The TRPs are cation channels which are responsible for moving Ca2+ and Mg2+…
Why does hypomagnesemia result in refractory hypokalemia?
We’ve known this medical factoid since we were medical students: you can’t successfully replete a potassium-depleted patient if they have low magnesium levels. But what is the mechanism by which this occurs? One possible explanation is put forth…
Hereditary Magnesium Wasting
There are a variety of interesting genetic diseases that can cause hereditary Magnesium wasting. Renal magnesium handling is a little different than other ions in that the primary site of reabsorption is not the proximal convoluted tubule. Rather,…