Blood magnesium values in healthy cattle and in cattle affected with anaplasmosis and eperythrozoonosis

Magnesium (Mg) concentrations in plasma, serum, and erythrocytes (RBC) of calves subjected to splenectomy (SP), splenectomy-induced eperythrozoonosis (EP), and experimentally induced anaplasmosis (AN) were determined and compared with pre-SP, pre-EP, and pre-AN values. Mean serum and plasma Mg concentrations varied in parallel through most periods of the trial. Both were highest after SP, but neither value was significantly different from the pre-SP concentrations. Mean serum and plasma Mg values varied inversely with mean RBC values after SP and EP. Mean RBC Mg values increased significantly from previous periods during EP and AN and after AN, with the values after AN being significantly higher than those at all other periods. Mean plasma, serum, and RBC Mg concentrations were correlated to both mean percentage of parasitemia (%P) and packed-cell volume (PCV). The RBC Mg values increased significantly after mean %P reached 20 and the PCV began to decrease. There was evidence for a distinct lag variation in increasing RBC Mg concentrations with respect to both mean %P and PCV during AN. A strong correlation was observed between the RBC Mg values and the %P occurring 5 days previously and the PCV occurring 3 days previously.