SOME PROBLEMS OF POTASSIUM METABOLISM
Authors: J M WELLER, I M TAYLOR
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1950)

Article1 September 1950SOME PROBLEMS OF POTASSIUM METABOLISMJOHN M. WELLER, M.D., ISAAC M. TAYLOR, M.D.JOHN M. WELLER, M.D.Search for more papers by this author, ISAAC M. TAYLOR, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-33-3-607 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe demonstration in recent years that deficiency in intracellular potassium results in severe metabolic abnormalities, and that its repair is associated with a return to normal metabolic activity, has directed our attention to a study of factors which are responsible for the high intracellular-extracellular potassium gradient.The basic problems of cellular potassium metabolism are immediately apparent if one considers the simple system of a human red cell suspended in plasma. The red cell contains nearly 150 mEq. of potassium per kilogram of water while the plasma contains less than 5 mEq. of potassium per kilogram of water. The questions which...Bibliography1. RakerTaylorWellerHastings JWIMJMAB: Rate of potassium exchange of the human erythrocyte, J. Gen. Physiol. 33: 691, 1950. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. NoonanFennHaege TRWOL: The distribution of injected radioactive potassium in rats, Am. J. Physiol. 132: 474, 1941. CrossrefGoogle Scholar3. Danowski TS: The transfer of potassium across the human blood cell membrane, J. Biol. Chem. 139: 693, 1941. CrossrefGoogle Scholar4. WellerTaylor JMIM: Unpublished data. Google Scholar5. BuchananHastingsNesbett JMABFB: The effect of the ionic environment on the synthesis of glycogen from glucose in rat liver slices, J. Biol. Chem. 180: 435, 1949. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. LardyZiegler HAJA: The enzymatic synthesis of phosphopyruvate from pyruvate, J. Biol. Chem. 159: 343, 1945. CrossrefGoogle Scholar7. 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Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Boston, Massachusetts*Presented at the Thirty-first Annual Session, American College of Physicians, Boston, Mass., April 21, 1950.From the Department of Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School.†Alfred Stengel Research Fellow of the American College of Physicians 1948-49. National Research Council Fellow in the Medical Sciences 1949-50.‡National Research Council Fellow in the Medical Sciences 1948-50. 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VI. Increased permeability of dog erythrocytes caused by cholinesterase inhibitors 1 September 1950Volume 33, Issue 3Page: 607-612KeywordsBlood plasmaCell metabolismPlasma cellsPotassium ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 September 1950 PDF downloadLoading ...