الفهرس 
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Abstract
Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic childhood conditions and the most frequent cause of hospitalization among children. Asthma is a disease characterized by ongoing inflammation of the airways, overproduction of mucus and airway constriction due to tightened muscles which result in permanent structural changes in the lungs a condition often called airway remodeling. In turn, these changes usually lead to accelerated decline in lung function, including irreversible decrease in airflow due to narrowed air passages. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disorder among children. It is estimated that throughout the world roughly 300 million people of all ages are asthmatic with significant variance in the prevalence between different countries and regions. Magnesium (Mg) is an abundant intracellular cation. It is involved in numerous physiological functions, including protein folding, intracellular signaling, enzymatic reactions involving protein and nucleic acid metabolism and enzyme catalysis. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) has been considered as an adjunct therapy for severe and life-threatening asthma exacerbation. Theoretically, magnesium can induce bronchial smooth muscle relaxation in a dose-dependent manner by inhibiting calcium influx into the cytosol , histamine release from mast cells, or acetylcholine release from cholinergic nerve endings. It also may increase the bronchodilator effect of β2-agonist by increasing the receptor affinity.
Our study aimed at measuring Mg concentrations in erythrocytes of children with acute asthma exacerbations, comparing them to matched healthy controls. For this aim 64 children were selected and classified into two groups; group (I) constitutes 43 patients diagnosed as bronchial asthma with age ranging from(2-11) years, mean age (5.41 ± 2.23) years and subclassified into 21 patient had mild asthma attack (48.8%), 7 patient had moderate asthma attack (16.3%) and 15 patient had severe asthma attack (34.9%) and group (II) constitutes 21 apparent healthy children whose age ranged from (2-11) years with mean age( 6.33 ± 2.00) years matched with group I in age, sex and socio-economic level used as controls.
All children included in the study were subjected to complete history taking, thorough clinical examination, anthropometric measurements which include: (weight in kilograms, height in centimeters and body mass index), chest- x – ray and laboratory investigations which include complete blood count, measurement of intracellular and plasma Mg level by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Personal data as name, age, sex, residence, special habits of family members and Family history of asthma or atopy. Our study showed increase in asthma prevalence among males, Also increase in asthma prevalence among urban areas compared to rural areas but with no statistically significant difference (P >0.05). The present study showed increase in asthma prevalence among children with positive family history of atopy with statistically significant difference (P <0.001). And also increase in asthma prevalence among children with smoking family members but with no statistically significant difference (p =0.06). The present study showed statistically significant higher BMI in asthmatic children compared to control group (P <0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference between cases and controls as regard height and weight (P >0.05).
Our study showed significant difference in X-ray findings in acute severe asthma (P <0.001).
The present study showed highly statistically significant higher eosinophilic count in asthmatic children compared to controls (P <0.001), with no statistically significant difference in hemoglobin level, RBC’s and WBCs count among both groups (P >0.05).
The present study showed highly significant lower intracorpuscular Mg level in asthmatic children compared to healthy one (P <0.001) with no significant difference in plasma Mg level among both groups (P >0.05).
Our study showed no significant difference in RBC’s or plasma Mg level in asthmatic children as regard positive family history of atopy, residence and relative’s special habits (P >0.05).
The present study showed significant negative correlation between RBC’s Mg level and eosinophilic count in asthmatic children ( P <0.05).
The present study showed highly significant positive correlation between severity of asthma exacerbation and eosinophilic count (P
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Summary
<0.05)with no statistically significant correlation between severity of asthma exacerbation with both RBC’s count and age (P >0.05).
The present study showed highly significant negative correlation between severity of asthma exacerbation and RBC’s Mg level (P <0.001) with no statistically significant correlation between severity of asthma exacerbation and plasma Mg level (P >0.05).