Comparison of the Diuretic Effects of Nitrate Salts With Other Diuretic Agents

¹ From the Department of Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

A comparison of the diuretic effect of single large doses of NH₄NO₃, KNO₃, NaNO₃, NaCl, Diamox and Mercuhydrin was made in three dogs. Measurement was made of urinary volume, sodium, potassium and osmolar excretion during the 24-hour period following administration of each agent. The net sodium excretion was taken to be the best diuretic index for our purposes. By this index, Mercuhydrin, Diamox, and NH₄NO₃ were of the same order of effectiveness (ca. 3 mEq/ kg/24 hr.), with KNO₃ next (ca. 2 mEq/kg/24 hr.) and NaNO₃ still less (ca. 0.5 mEq/kg), while NaCl was not completely excreted in 24 hours. The effect on urine volume was in the same order but with smaller differences. Net potassium excretion was significant only with the acidifying agents Diamox and NH₄NO₃, which caused about 2.5 mEq/kg loss in 24 hours, and NaNO₃, which caused about 0.7 mEq/kg loss. The excretion of osmotically active material as measured by freezing point depression of the urine was much less than would be predicted from the cation excretion.

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