Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation. Magnesium concentration is predominantly regulated by ileum absorption and renal excretion. In human medicine hypomagnesaemia may accompany inflammatory small bowel disease (IBD), affecting treatment and prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate total serum magnesium (tMg) and cobalamin (CBL) concentrations in cats with IBD and small intestinal neoplasia (IN) and to reveal possible correlations.

Thirty-two client owned cats were included in this study. Twelve clinically healthy cats had comprised the control group, 13 cats histopathologically diagnosed with lymphocytic-plasmacytic IBD and 7 cats with IN (5 small intestinal lymphoma, 2 small intestinal adenocarcinoma). Blood serum tMg concentration was measured by atomic absorption using the Perkin-Elmer, A Analyst 100, while serum CBL was measured by direct chemiluminescence technology using the ADVIA Centaur, Siemens.

Mean (SD) tMg serum concentration was 2.2 (0.3) mg/dL (median: 2.2 mg/dL, range: 2–3.1 mg/dL) in the control group, 2.34 (0.33) mg/dL (median: 2.3 mg/dL, range: 2.1–3 mg/dL) in the IN group and 2.05 (0.35) mg/dL (median: 2 mg/dL, range: 1.3–2.9 mg/dL) in the IBD group. Mean (SD) CBL serum concentration was 838 (306) pg/ml (median: 795 pg/ml, range: 494–1429 pg/ml) in the control group, 358 (204) pg/ml (median: 402 pg/ml, range: 130–572 pg/ml) in the IN group and 445 (314) pg/ml (median: 420 pg/ml, range: 114–1176 pg/ml) in the IBD group.

Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that there was a statistically significant effect of group on the median tMg values, χ²(2)= 7.089, p=0.029, but the Mann-Whitney test after conducted the Bonferroni-Dunn correction did not find significant differences among the three groups. Also, correlation between tMg and CBL groups was non-significant, r(24)=0.3, p=0.155.

Although there was a significant difference in the concentration of serum tMg among the three groups, statistical analysis failed to verify a correlation between tMg and CBL concentrations. This could be attributed to the limited number of animals.

Disclosures

No disclosures to report.