Intralymphocyte free magnesium and plasma triglycerides

To evaluate the relative effect of hypertension and plasma triglycerides on intralymphocyte magnesium we measured ionized intralymphocyte magnesium (Mg(i)) concentration by means of a fluorimetric method based on the dye Furaptra in 4 groups of subjects: 18 normotensive normotriglyceridemic controls (NTNC), 9 hypertriglyceridemic normotensive patients (HTN), 8 hypertriglyceridemic essential hypertensive patients (HTEH), 17 normotriglyceridemic essential hypertensive patients (NTEH). Hypercholesterolemic, diabetic patients and alcoholics were excluded from the study. Mg(i) was found to be statistically reduced (ANOVA test F= 10.41, P=0.0001) in both HTN and HTEH (NIF SD, HTN: 0.235 +/- 0.01, HTEH: 0.236 +/- 0.01 mmol/l) as compared to both NTNC and NTEH (M +/- SD, NTNC: 0.294 +/- 0.008, NTEH: 0.297+/- 0.009 mmol/l). A statistically significant negative correlation was found in the population as a whole between Mg(i) and plasma triglycerides (n=52, R= -541, P=0.00004). Our data suggest that hypertriglyceridemia per se and possibly the so-called plurimetabolic syndrome is characterized by low intralymphocyte free magnesium.