Potassium and Sodium Deficiency in Rats
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Pediat. Res. 4: 345-351 (1970) Fetal homeostasis malnutrition hyperkalemia placenta hyponatremia potassium sodium Fetal Homeostasis in Maternal Malnutrition: Potassium and Sodium Deficiency in Rats JOSEPH DANCIS['2] and DAWN SPRINGER Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA Extract Maternal rats fed a diet deficient in potassium (K) during pregnancy were depleted of K so that the plasma level of K fell to one-half the normal value and the concentration in maternal muscle fell by about 30%. The K concentration in fetal plasma under these circumstances did not change signifi- cantly, but that in fetal tissues (placenta and fetus) decreased by roughly 10% (fig. 1, table III). Maternal hyperkalemia, induced by a sodium-deficient diet or produced by infusions of K (table IV) induced a fetal hyperkalemia (fig. 1). Maternal hyponatremia caused proportional hyponatremia in the fetus (slope = 0.60, correlation coefficient = 0.91) (fig. 2); the sodium content of the fetus was also reduced in maternal hyponatremia (fig. 3). Speculation Deserving of particular emphasis is the contrast between the effect of maternal hyperkalemia and hypokalemia on the level of potassium in the fetal blood. This difference in response raises questions concerning the mechanism of placental transport of potassium. It would be of interest to determine if the placenta protects the fetus against other maternal ion deficiencies. Introduction the mother is subjected to the severe stress that results from specific nutritional deficiencies. The present Mammalian pregnancy offers the fetus the advantage studies concentrate on the effects of potassium (K) of a controlled environment during a critical period of and sodium (Na) deficiences. Acute elevations of K growth and development. The control is provided levels in the plasma of the mother were also induced primarily by the homeostatic mechanisms of the because of questions raised by some of the nutritional mother which maintain the composition of her blood, studies. under normal conditions, within relatively narrow The rat was chosen as the experimental animal be- limits. It is suspected that the placenta, through its cause extensive nutritional information about this array of active transport mechanisms, may serve as a animal was already available, because of the ease of second line of defense. obtaining modified diets, and because the rapid rate These investigations have been designed to study of growth of the total fetal mass presents particularly the mechanisms by which the fetus is protected when severe demands on the dam. 346 DANCIS and SPRINGER Materials and Methods Muscle samples from dams were obtained from the quadriceps. The sodium-deficient test diet for rats (Hartroft for- Infusion Studies mula) [2], without the salt mixture, was obtained Solutions of KC1 (0.154 M equivalent to 1.15 g/ commercially [7]. The salts were mixed in our labor- 100 ml) and CaCl2 (0.11 M equivalent to 1.22 g/ atory and 40 g of the salt mix were added to 955 g of 100 ml) were mixed in a ratio of 4:1 and infused into the basic diet (table I). a jugular vein of a dam at a rate of 0.25 ml/min for To complete the normal diet, 5 g NaCl and 12 g 15 min followed by 0.194 ml/min for the rest of the KC1 were added, providing 160 mEq K and 150 mEq experiment. Maternal blood samples were secured Na/kg of formula. For the potassium-deficient diet, from the tail vein and fetal samples from the axilla, KC1 was omitted. For the sodium-deficient diet, as described above. Control animals were infused at Na2HPO4 was omitted from the basic salt mixture and similar rates with a saline solution (0.154 M equivalent only 0.81 g NaCl was added to each kilogram of for- to 0.9 g/100 ml). mula (instead of 5 g). This provided 14 mEq Na and 160 mEq K/kg of formula. Preparation and Analyses of Tissues All samples were prepared and analyzed in dupli- Pregnant rats were purchased [8]. The special diets cate. Approximately 1 g of maternal muscle and pla- were offered ad libitum usually beginning on day 2 of centa was weighed, transferred to porcelain crucibles, pregnancy, occasionally as late as day 5. Blood samples and dried overnight in an oven at 100°. A total fetus from the mother were obtained from the tail vein. The was homogenized and 1 aliquot of approximately 1 g ammonium salt of heparin was used as an anticoagu- was similarly treated. Samples were reweighed follow- lant. On day 21 of gestation, the animals were anesthe- ing drying and transferred to a muffle furnace for 16 h tized by injecting intraperitoneally 0.15 ml (60 mg/ml) at 450°. One milliliter of hot 0.5 N nitric acid was of sodium pentobarbital, and a hysterotomy perform- added to the dried sample and the solution centrifuged ed. The fetuses were delivered into a NaCl bath (0.154 at 30,000 Xg for 10 min to clear it of minute particles M equivalent to 0.9 g/100 ml) kept at 37°. Fetuses were of residue that might obstruct the flame photometer removed individually and dried. Blood samples were during Na and K analyses. collected from the axillary vessels into heparinized (ammonium salt) microcollecting tubes. The blood Statistics from two normal fetuses were pooled. Fetuses from Regressions (slopes and correlation coefficients), mothers fed diets deficient in K and Na were smaller t tests, and standard errors of the mean were deter- so that blood from three or four fetuses was pooled. mined on a computer [10]. Table I. Test diet1 Diet g/kg Basic salt mixture composition, % Casein 200.0 CaCO3 20.94 Sucrose 655.92 Ca10(OH)2(PO4)6 41.00 Fiber, nonnutritive 20.00 CoCl2 • 6H2O 0.02 Corn oil 70.00 CuSO4 • 5H2O 0.15 2 Vitamin supplement GBI 9.08 FeCl3 • 6H2O 4.65 MgSO4 19.70 MnSO4 • H2O 0.40 Nal 0.014 Na2HPO4 14.80 ZnSO4 • 7H2O 0.116 1 Normal diet, 40 g of basic salt mixture, 5 g NaCl, and 12 g KC1 were added to 955 g of diet; K deficient, KC1 was omitted; Na deficient, Na2HPO was omitted from the basic salt mixture and 0.81 g NaCl was added per kilogram diet. ? General Biochemicals, Inc., catalog no. 40060. Fetal homeostasis in maternal malnutrition in rats 347 Results The animals were sluggish, with ruffled fur, and re- Potassium fused their feedings. At hysterotomy, the fetuses Studies of K. levels in serum require careful surgical were normal in number, responded vigorously to technique. MANIEY [4] has stressed that changes stimulation, but were small, weighing 0.5—1.0 g less introduced by such factors as ether anesthesia and than control fetuses. manipulations of the fetus might interfere with ade- The relation of K concentrations in maternal and quate oxygenation. He suggests that the wide variations fetal plasma is presented in figure 1. For unknown reported in the literature for 'normal' values for serum reasons, three mothers offered the control diets had K in the fetus probably reflect differences in metho- distinctly low K levels in plasma. These rats differed dology. For this reason it was important to use a from those on potassium-deficient diets in that the standard technique and to establish control values. hypokalemia appeared acutely at the end of pregnancy, In the present investigations we used sodium pento- and the rats did not appear ill. Whatever the reason, barbital for anesthetic because it does not appear to low maternal K levels are not paralleled by reductions affect blood levels of K [4]. The fetuses were gently in fetal K level in plasma. In fact, the mean fetal K delivered by hysterotomy into a 37° saline bath, and value was slightly higher in the potassium-deficient the fetus and placenta were carefully inspected to make certain that the circulation was active. Fetal blood was collected quickly and easily from the axilla imme- Table II. Maternal blood levels diately after severing the umbilical vessels and remov- ing the fetus from the bath. Although it is impossible 1 2 to be certain that the levels obtained were the same Diet No. 7-8 days as those that exist in utero, some confidence is provided Na K by the constancy of the fetal blood levels in the control Control 8 136±1.33 5.7±0.33 series. With the exception of three control animals, in K deficient 4 137±2.5 3.6±0.3 which the maternal level was below 4 mEq/liter (fig. 1), Na deficient 9 140±0.5 5.5±0.2 fetal levels closely approximated those in the mother (fetal to maternal ratio of 1.08). MANIEY [4] found maternal and fetal levels essentially equal at term. Diet No. 14-26 days A reduction in the K. concentration in plasma was Na K readily induced by removing K from the diet. By the Control 9 136±1.0 5.6±0.2 end of week 1 of gestation, when the blood was first K deficient 4 136±1.0 3.8±0.4 sampled, the average concentration was 2 mEq/liter Na deficient 12 135±0.5 5.0±0.3 lower than that of the control group, and this differ- ence was maintained throughout pregnancy (table II). By the end of the pregnancy, hypokalemia was severe. Diet No. 18 days Na K Normal Control 5 135±0.1 5.4±0.3 K deficient Na deficient 9 132±1.3 6.0±0.2 8- A 7 - A x x Diet No.