Arginine-induced hypermagnesemia and hyperkalemia in nephrectomized rats

This study examined the effect of arginine monohydrochloride infusion on serum Mg and K in nephrectomized rats. Hyperkalemia exceeded the hypermagnesemia both of which occurred in response to arginine infusion and/or metabolic acidosis. This observation is consonant with our earlier reports which demonstrated that the activity of K exceeded that of Mg in shifts between the intracellular and extracellular compartments under a variety of experimental conditions.