ASSESSMENT OF RED-CELL SODIUM-TRANSPORT IN ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 59  (2) , 439-442
Abstract
Abnormal erythrocyte Na+ transport has been reported in patients with essential hypertension and in some 1st-degree relatives. The 2 major techniques now employed for estimating Na+ transport, i.e., Na+/Li+ countertransport and Na+/K+ cotransport, are rather intricate and time consuming. Furthermore, the precise nature of the transport processes being measured is not clear. A simpler, more direct technique based on measurement of 22Na+ accumulation by erythrocytes was developed. 22Na+ uptake by red cells from patients with essential hypertension averages twice the normal. Of 21 patients with essential hypertension, only 2 patients had values within the upper end of the normal range. In 12 patients with secondary hypertension and no family history of essential hypertension, erythrocyte 22Na+ accumulation was within normal limits. This technique for estimating red cell 22Na+ uptake is highly reproducible and shows little day-to-day variation. This procedure for the assessment of erythrocyte Na+ transport should be useful in differential diagnosis and the presymptomatic identification of individuals genetically prone to essential hypertension.