ERYTHROCYTE CATION COTRANSPORT AND COUNTERTRANSPORT IN ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION

Abstract

We studied erythrocyte cation cotransport and countertransport systems in 21 and 27 patients with essential hypertension, respectively, all of whom were under 50 years of age, had a diastolic blood pressure level greater than 100 mm Hg, and had a family history of hypertension. The following parameters were normal in nearly all patients: total erythrocyte Na+ and K+ concentrations, the maximal rate (Vmax) of inward cotransport, the affinity of cotransport with Rb+ as the substrate, the net outward cotransport of Na+ ions, the passive "leak" influx of Rb,+ and the maximal rate of Li+-Na+ countertransport. Only four patients gave clearly abnormal results; in two the maximal rate of both cotran..