Hyponatremia in the rat in the absence of positive water balance

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to determine the mechanisms that lead to hyponatremia when isotonic saline was the only fluid infused into rats given antidiuretic hormone (ADH), and what might minimize the degree of this hyponatremia. Normal rats were deprived of food and water for the 24-hr study period. They received an infusion of isotonic saline to expand their extracellular fluid (ECF) volume with and without exogenous ADH administration (N = 8 in each of the four groups). Similar studies were also carried out in 32 rats fed a low electrolyte diet for 72 hr before the experiment. An additional control group was fed the low electrolyte diet supplemented with sodium (Na), potassium (K), and chloride (Cl). Hyponatremia developed over 24 hr in rats fed their usual diet if treated with ADH and isotonic saline (fall, 13 +/- 2 mM, P < 0.01). The hyponatremia was caused by negative balance for Na + K salts. Hyponatremia did not develop after the saline + ADH treatment if rats were pretreated for 3 days with a low electrolyte diet. Two factors were required to develop this hyponatremia--generation of electrolyte-free water as a result of the excretion of a large quantity of Na + K salts at a high concentration in the urine, and prevention of the excretion of this electrolyte-free water by ADH. Increasing the avidity for Na reabsorption by the kidney prevented this type of hyponatremia from developing.