STUDIES ON MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS

Abstract

By restriction to a Mg-deficient ration, the rat''s threshold of sensitivity to electrical stimuli is lowered, since very weak currents elicit a neuromuscular response. The diminution in current capable of producing a contraction is shared by all forms of the shock, but cathode opening current threshold is particularly lowered. Such hyperirritability, detectable in measurable units by the electrical method, satisfies the criterion for the diagnosis of tetany as a manifestation of Mg deficiency. As thus determined by electrical stimulation, the time at which hyperirritability appears corresponds to that previously ascertained by use of auditory stimuli.