MOVEMENT OF POTASSIUM INTO SKELETAL MUSCLE DURING SPONTANEOUS ATTACK IN FAMILY PERIODIC PARALYSIS 1

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Abstract
Net movement of K between forearm tissues (mainly muscle) and plasma was measured by the Fick principle: the product of plasma flow through the forearm (measured by dye-dilution) and the difference in concentration of K in arterial and venous plasma defines the quantity of K taken up by (or released from) forearm tissues per unit time. A large net uptake of K from arterial plasma by skeletal muscle (the forearm) was demonstrated during the development of a spontaneous nocturnal attack of periodic paralysis and during the development of a nocturnal attack induced by the administration of glucose and insulin. Movement of K out of skeletal muscle was demonstrated during the spontaneous recovery from a nocturnal attack which developed spontaneously and during recovery from an attack after oral KCl administration. The characteristic onset of attacks during the night with spontaneous cure later in the morning seen in many of these patients may be due to exaggerations of the normal diurnal variation in net K movement between muscle and plasma.