Water-free sodium accumulation.

J Titze - Seminars in dialysis, 2009 - europepmc.org
Seminars in dialysis, 2009europepmc.org
The widely accepted concept of body fluid and electrolyte homeostasis is that Na (+) is
restricted mainly to the extracellular fluid and K (+) to the intracellular space, where both ions
act to hold water and thereby control the extracellular and intracellular fluid volume by their
osmotic activity. Na (+) accumulation thus inevitably leads to water retention. The constancy
of the extracellular volume is the task of the kidneys, which control the total body Na (+)
content. More recent data have questioned this traditional view, suggesting that large …
The widely accepted concept of body fluid and electrolyte homeostasis is that Na (+) is restricted mainly to the extracellular fluid and K (+) to the intracellular space, where both ions act to hold water and thereby control the extracellular and intracellular fluid volume by their osmotic activity. Na (+) accumulation thus inevitably leads to water retention. The constancy of the extracellular volume is the task of the kidneys, which control the total body Na (+) content. More recent data have questioned this traditional view, suggesting that large amounts of Na (+) can be accumulated without accompanying water retention by osmotically inactive Na (+) retention, or by osmotically neutral Na (+)/K (+) exchange. Besides the control of the body Na (+) content by the kidneys, redistribution of body electrolytes hence provides an extrarenal regulatory alternative in the maintenance of body fluid volume and blood pressure control.
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