Evaluation of the effectiveness of the magnesium-potassium complex in correcting the health status of children who have suffered from COVID-19

The health status of children and adolescents after an acute episode of COVID-19, namely the post-acute and long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2, is an urgent medical problem. The pathogenesis of the development of the post-covid state has not yet been fully studied and includes various links, including a violation of the constancy of the levels of various macroelements in biological tissues and blood. Since the leading role in ensuring the proper functioning of energy and synthetic processes in the body belongs to magnesium, it is assumed that the development of post-covid state may be associated with hypomagnesemia. Purpose - to evaluate the level of magnesium in the blood serum of children who have suffered from COVID-19, to analyze their state of health, level of tolerance to physical exertion, and quality of life; to optimize approaches to the correction of detected violations, by prescribing a magnesium-potassium complex, and to evaluate its effectiveness. Materials and methods. 75 children aged 6 to 18 took part in the study. Among them, 60 children with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in the anamnesis and a period after COVID-19 more than 12 weeks and 15 somatically healthy children of the same age did not suffer from COVID-19 (control group). Children with COVID-19 were divided into a main group (35 children who had reduced serum magnesium levels) and a control group (25 children with normal magnesium levels). The research was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the health status of children who suffered from COVID-19 was analyzed. The second stage of the study involved the appointment of PANCICOR magnesium-potassium complex to children of the main group and the evaluation of the effectiveness of its use on the 60th day of treatment. General clinical (analysis of anamnesis data, Rufier test results, questionnaire), laboratory (determination of magnesium level in blood serum), instrumental (cycle ergometry), and statistical research methods were used. Results. Magnesium deficiency is a common disorder of macronutrient homeostasis in children who have experienced COVID-19. Post- covid syndrome was detected in 28.3% of children. At the same time, the proportion of post-covid state detection was higher in the group of children with magnesium deficiency compared to the group of children with normal serum magnesium levels. The level of tolerance to physical exertion and indicators of quality of life in children who suffered from COVID-19 are significantly lower (p<0.05) compared to children in the control group who did not suffer from COVID-19. The analysis of the parameters of the health status of children on the 60th day of taking the magnesium-potassium complex PANCICOR showed a positive effect of the drug on the characteristics of the state of health that were studied. In particular, on the 30th day of treatment, no child noted the manifestations of the post-covid condition. Indicators of the quality of life and tolerance to physical exertion statistically significantly increased and improved (p=0.002 and p=0.005, respectively) compared with the results at the initial visit. Conclusions. The use of the magnesium-potassium complex allows you to influence the basic links of the pathogenesis of the post-covid state and the consequences of the transferred COVID-19 associated with magnesium deficiency, as well as to promote the restoration of the adaptive reserves of the body after an acute episode of COVID-19. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The research protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the institution mentioned in the work. Informed consent from the children’s parents was obtained for the research. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.