[Metabolic alkalosis on the surface but metabolic acidosis in depth].

Our purpose in writing this article is to emphasize the acid-base consequences and total body imbalances which follow the selective depletion of HCl. The initial body balance is an equimolar deficit of chloride and gain of bicarbonate. Within a short period of time, body balance changes; the net deficits are closer to equimolar losses of potassium and chloride.

Disorders of potassium homeostasis: an approach based on pathophysiology.

Disorders of potassium (K+) homeostasis are frequently encountered in clinical medicine and may have serious sequelae, particularly cardiac arrhythmias. Since long-term K+ balance depends on regulation of renal excretion of K+, the focus of this paper is to provide a novel way to analyze the K+ excretory process at the bedside in a noninvasive fashion. A fundamental aim was to incorporate recent new advances in K+ physiology to the clinical analysis of K+ disorders.

Does saline "correct" the abnormal mass balance in metabolic alkalosis associated with chloride depletion in the rat?

An elevated plasma pH and bicarbonate are the clinical hallmarks of metabolic alkalosis. Nevertheless, to fully define its pathophysiology, one needs a quantitative interpretation of events in 3 areas - the ECF, ICF, and urine. Accordingly, our purpose was to study mass balance in Cl--depletion metabolic alkalosis with normal initial balance for Na+ and K+.

What is responsible for the diurnal variation in potassium excretion?

Potassium excretion exhibits a diurnal pattern, with most excretion occurring close to noon in humans. Each component of the K+ excretion rate [urinary K+ concentration ([K+]) and flow rate] was measured and back-calculated to reflect events in the cortical collecting duct (CCD). Our purpose was to determine to what extent each component contributed to this diurnal variation in each 2-h portion of the day.

Kaliuretic response to aldosterone: influence of the content of potassium in the diet.

The excretion of potassium (K+) decreased by 50% (30 v 63 mEq/d, P < .01) when subjects consumed a diet that was low in K+ for 3 days. Although part of this conservation of K+ was achieved in part by suppressing the release of aldosterone, nevertheless providing exogenous mineralocorticoids did not lead to a large kaliuresis when there was a modest degree of K+ depletion.