Increased sodium-lithium countertransport in red cells of patients with Bartter's syndrome.
Erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport was evaluated in three adult patients with Bartter's syndrome, diagnosed on clinical and histopathological basis and on laboratory tests. As compared with age-matched control subjects, lithium effluxes to both sodium medium and to sodium-free medium were high in two patients and Na+-Li+ countertransport was significantly greater in all three patients. The relationship between increased Na+-Li+ countertransport and the proposed primary disorder of Bartter's syndrome (i.e., a primary tubular defect of chloride reabsorption) is not apparent. However, this finding favours the hypothesis of a generalized cellular membrane dysfunction of ion transport in Bartter's syndrome.
D000328:Adult; D001477:Bartter Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D001692:Biological Transport; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006929:Hyperaldosteronism / Q000097:blood*; D008094:Lithium / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood*
D008094:Lithium; D012964:Sodium