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Interrelationship of Dietary Magnesium and Potassium in the Guinea Pig¹

Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65201

The interrelationship of dietary magnesium and potassium in the weanling guinea pig was studied in two experiments using 3 x 4 and 2 x 2 factorial designs. The basal purified diet consisted chiefly of casein, sucrose and cellulose and was low in both magnesium and potassium. Supplementary potassium was added as the acetate and magnesium as the oxide. There was a significant physiological interaction between magnesium and potassium. Increasing the dietary level of potassium above the requirement stimulated growth rate when the diet was moderately deficient in magnesium. High levels of potassium also decreased the mortality rate among deficient animals. Skeletal and cardiac muscle of animals fed 0.01% magnesium contained significantly more sodium and calcium than controls. Dietary potassium did not affect the concentration of sodium, potassium or magnesium in akeletal muscle of magnesium-deficient animals, but the highest level significantly decreased the concentration of calcium in both skeletal and cardiac muscle. Excess potassium reduced the elevated level of blood inorganic phosphorus but had no influence on the anemia, signs which are typical of magnesium deficiency in guinea pigs. It was concluded that excess potassium fed as the acetate exerts an ameliorative effect on magnesium deficiency. The effect is explained in part by the fact that the phosphate level in blood is reduced and may be related to cation-anion balance.

² From a dissertation submitted by the senior author in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. degree, University of Missouri, Columbia, 1968. Present address: Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Manuscript received 21 August 1969.