Role of cofactors in the treatment of malnutrition as examplified by magnesium.

In the absence of appropriate amounts of metabolically important cofactors such as magnesium, replenishment of malnourished patients with protein and carbohydrate will exaggerate the underlying abnormality even though the primary deficiency is corrected. The malnourished patients cannot utilize the food substances provided unless they have within their cells commensurate amounts of all the necessary cofactors required for the metabolism of the food supplied. This therapeutic problem in malnutrition is illustrated by three different examples of clinical deterioration when caloric and vitamin replenishment have been undertaken in the face of magnesium deificiency.