Acute Effects of Acetazolamide (Diamox) on Plasma and Urinary Electrolytes of Dogs With Special Reference to Calcium

¹ From the Department of Biochemistry, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois

Administration of Diamox by ingestion or injection to adult fasting female dogs consistently produced an acute increase of approximately 1 mg % in the plasma concentration of calcium. At the same time there was an increase in the plasma phosphate and chloride concentration and a decrease in total plasma content of carbon dioxide of Diamox-infused dogs. Diamox did not affect the plasma concentration of calcium, chloride or bicarbonate if renal excretory function was abolished prior to its administration. Infusion of Diamox produced a prompt rise in the urinary excretion of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphate, citrate, chloride and water in fasting female dogs. The effect of Diamox on the fasting concentration of calcium rendered unsatisfactory the interpretation of data concerned with a study of its effect on the disappearance of injected calcium. However, intravenous injection of small amounts of sodium carbonate was found to produce a definite delay in the rate of disappearance of injected calcium.