Magnesium Level In Tuberculosis Pateints In India

BACKGROUND: Study was conducted to observe effect of mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and anti tuberculosis treatment on serum magnesium level. MATERIAL & METHODS: It was a longitudinal case control study. 50 diagnosed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis before starting treatment (group PTB-1) were followed after 2 months of treatment (group PTB-2). 50 diagnosed case of multi drug resistant tuberculosis (group MDR-TB). 50 age and sex matched healthy controls were taken and every candidate was examined for serum magnesium. RESULTS: In our study, serum magnesium level in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and multi drug resistance tuberculosis patients were significantly lower compared to control (p value <0.001). In follow up cases of PTB after 2 months of treatment, though levels showed an increase compared to pre-treatment value (p value 0.001), still the levels were significantly lower than control group (p value <0.001). The magnesium levels were also found to be significantly lower in MDR patients as compared to PTB patients (p=0.004). CONCLUSION: Magnesium ion concentration of blood is inversely proportional to the type and extent of the disease which could possibly be due to chronic malnutrition and the amount and destruction of lung tissue in cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and it can also be used to measure the response to treatment.