Cardiac and skeletal muscle electrolytes in acute respiratory alkalemia and acidemia

¹ Clinical Physiology Laboratories, Institute of Clinical Investigation, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis, Tennessee

Left ventricular and skeletal muscle Na, K, Cl and H₂O have been measured in dogs subjected to 2 hours of respiratory alkalemia or acidemia. No detectable differences were observed in skeletal muscle as a result of either alkalemia or acidemia, when experimental animals were compared with control dogs. Cardiac muscle, on the other hand, exhibited significant increases in both total content and intracellular concentration of K, without significant alteration in Na, following 2 hours of alkalemia. In acidemic dogs, the K content of left ventricular muscle also increased significantly without change in Na. However, average intracellular K was not altered because of an associated inward movement of H₂O from the extracellular to the intracellular compartment.