Protection of the fetus in experimental potassium depletion

¹ Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Pregnant rats were provided with a potassium-deficient diet on the day of mating. One group was sacrificed at 12–13 days of gestation and another group at 21 days. A third group was depleted of potassium acutely by utilizing peritoneal dialysis with an isotonic NaHCO₃ solution. In all groups maternal serum and muscle potassium were found to be significantly lower and maternal serum CO₂ significantly higher in the experimental animals than in the controls. However no significant difference in total fetal potassium concentrations was found when experimental and control animals were compared. As late as 15–17 days of gestation the total fetal potassium concentrations were found to be nearly double those of maternal skeletal muscle, but on day 21 the total fetal and the maternal muscle values were roughly equivalent. The mean dry weight of the experimental 21-day fetuses was significantly lower than that of the control fetuses. The mechanism of fetal sparing in maternal potassium depletion cannot be determined from the present data.

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