Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 9, Issue 6 616-622, Copyright © 1990 by American College of Nutrition

JOURNAL ARTICLE

A synergism of antigen challenge and severe magnesium deficiency on blood and urinary histamine levels in rats

W. Wei and K. B. Franz
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.

The effects of severe and moderate magnesium (Mg) deficiency on blood and urinary histamine were studied in 36 male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats with or without IgE-stimulating antigen challenge. The rats were divided into six groups: two each on 50 (severely deficient), 300 (moderately deficient), and 2000 (control) ppm Mg diets without and with immunization with ovalbumin challenge on days 0, 14, and 29. Unimmunized severely Mg-deficient rats had significantly elevated urinary histamine which returned to normal by 22 days, but whole blood histamine was still significantly elevated at 36 days. Both blood and urinary histamine of immunized severely Mg-deficient rats were significantly higher than those of all the other groups throughout the study, particularly after the antigen challenge. There was a synergism of antigen challenge and severe Mg deficiency on blood and urinary histamine levels. The results suggest that severe Mg deficiency can aggravate diseases which are caused by abnormal histamine release after exposure to an IgE-stimulating antigen.