Spectrochemical Analysis of Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Copper, and Zinc in Normal Human Erythrocytes*

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Abstract
A method employing an emission spectrophotometric technique for the analysis of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu and Zn is described. Normal values were established in 50 control subjects for each of these elements per g. of packed cells, per cell, per cubic micron of cell, per microliter of cell water, per micromole of hemoglobin and per micromole of nitrogen. The average erythrocyte contained 0.93 x 10-9 [mu]moles of sodium, 9.87 x 10-9 [mu]moles of potassium, 0.25 x 10-9 [mu]moles of magnesium, 17.8 x 10-12 [mu]moles of zinc, 3.72 x 10-12 [mu]moles of calcium and 1.59 x 10-12 [mu]moles of copper. Washing erythrocytes with either isotonic magnesium chloride or choline-Tris buffer eluted both sodium and calcium from the cells. The use of Na4EDTA as an anticoagulant removed calcium from the erythrocytes but the other elements were not affected. The comparatively high concentration of sodium and calcium in plasma makes correction for trapped plasma mandatory when analyses for these elements are made on packed cells. Correction of results for trapped plasma determined in individual samples with RISA proved more satisfactory than correction from composite calibration curves.