Effects of hypoxia on plasma concentrations and daily elimination of sodium, potassium and chlorine ions

Abstract

Serum concentrations of Na+, K+ and Cl- are studied, as well as the elimination of these ions in urine, in patients suffering from chronic respiratory insufficiency, being classified in two groups according to the level of hypoxemia: group A (PO2 less than 6.66 KPa) and group B (PO2 less than 8 KPa).A third group C of healthy patients with analogous anthropological characteristics has served as a control group.The concentrations of serum of the three ions are noticeably similar in the three groups, but the daily elimination of Na+, K+ and Cl- is less in those suffering from respiratory insufficiency than in those of the control group, with significant statistical differences in all cases except with K+ in those suffering from pronounced hypoxemia.On analysing the correlation between the rates of elimination of ions in urine, with the plasmatic values of PO2, PCO2 and [H+] of all the patients studied, the highest values of the Pearson coefficient are found on correlating the elimination of ions with the partial pressures of oxygen, therefore suggesting that hypoxia could be the main motor inducing metabolic changes.