Adjustment of density in vivo

John C. Parker ¹

¹ From the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514

Red blood cells from mature dogs contain less Na and more K than would be the case if they were in Donnan equilibrium with plasma. They have no ouabain-sensitive Na pump, and their membranes are deficient in Na, K-ATPase. Experiments are reported in which dog red cells were first loaded with supranormal quantities of Na and water and then reinjected into the dog. Over the course of 26–40 h the Na- and water-loaded cells returned to a normal state of hydration as judged by their density. It is concluded that dog red cells possess some means of correcting their swollen status in vivo, despite their lack of a ouabain-sensitive cation transport apparatus.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents