Resumen de There is chronic latent magnesium deficiency in apparently healthy university students

Cristiane Hermes Sales, Débora Azevedo Nascimento, Anna Cecília Queiroz Medeiros, Kenio Costa de Lima, Lucia Fátima Campos Pedrosa, Célia Colli

• Introduction: Magnesium is an essential micronutrient for human body, and its deficiency has been associated with risk of non-communicable diseases.

  Objective: Assessment of magnesium status, and evaluation of the frequency of magnesium deficiency in a group of healthy adults.

  Methods: Plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels, and magnesium intake were determined in 115 students (55 women and 60 men), from a public university in Brazil.

  Results: The medians of magnesium concentration in plasma (0.76 mmol/L), erythrocyte (1.97 mmol/L), and of dietary daily intake (8.84 mmol/d) were low. Forty two percent of participants had plasma or erythrocyte magnesium below the limit of 0.75 and 1.65 mmol/L, respectively. A high percentage showed high probability of inadequate magnesium intake.

  Conclusions: There was a high frequency of subclinical magnesium deficiency in the adults assessed, that could be related to low dietary magnesium intake.