Effect of potassium deficiency on renal response to respiratory acidosis

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut

In potassium-deficient rats, exposure to 8% CO₂ for 24 hr induces an increased excretion and net negative balance of chloride associated with a decrease in the chloride concentration of serum. The increased excretion of chloride does not correlate well with the associated increase in the excretion of ammonium or sodium and occurred when urinary excretion of potassium was minimal. It is suggested that the increased excretion of chloride results from direct interference with the tubular reabsorption of this ion by CO₂.