Abstract
In 6 of 7 healthy males 6 days of hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), 50 mg twice daily, without K supplements increased red blood cell (RBC) Na concentration. Serum K concentration fell in all subjects. Four days after discontinuing HCT, intracellular Na and extracellular K concentrations had normalized. Throughout the evaluation period the course of mean relative intracellular Na was almost a mirror image of mean relative extracellular K. The decline of serum K or of HCT (due to its inhibitory effect on Na-K-ATPase activity) might have diminished Na-K-ATPase-dependent active RBC Na efflux with a resultant rise in erythrocyte Na concentration. RBC K and serum Na concentrations were not affected by short-term exposure to HCT.

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