Intracellular fluid

Sodium and Potassium. Whereas sodium ion is the most abundant cation in the extracellular fluid, potassium ion is the most abundant in the intracellular fluid. Small amounts of K" are requited in the extracellular fluid to maintain normal muscle activity. Some sodium ion is also present in intracellular fluid (see Fig. 5). Common food sources rich in potassium may be found in Table 7. Those rich in sodium are Hsted in Table 8. 

Active Transport. Maintenance of the appropriate concentrations of K" and Na" in the intra- and extracellular fluids involves active transport, ie, a process requiring energy (53). Sodium ion in the extracellular fluid (0.136—0.145 AfNa" ) diffuses passively and continuously into the intracellular fluid (<0.01 M Na" ) and must be removed. This sodium ion is pumped from the intracellular to the extracellular fluid, while K" is pumped from the extracellular (ca 0.004 M K" ) to the intracellular fluid (ca 0.14 M K" ) (53—55). The energy for these processes is provided by hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and requires the enzyme Na" -K" ATPase, a membrane-bound enzyme which is widely distributed in the body. In some cells, eg, brain and kidney, 60—70 wt % of the ATP is used to maintain the required Na" -K" distribution. 

AletabolicFunctions. The chlorides are essential in the homeostatic processes maintaining fluid volume, osmotic pressure, and acid—base equihbria (11). Most chloride is present in body fluids a Htde is in bone salts. Chloride is the principal anion accompanying Na" in the extracellular fluid. Less than 15 wt % of the CF is associated with K" in the intracellular fluid. Chloride passively and freely diffuses between intra- and extracellular fluids through the cell membrane. If chloride diffuses freely, but most CF remains in the extracellular fluid, it follows that there is some restriction on the diffusion of phosphate. As of this writing (ca 1994), the nature of this restriction has not been conclusively estabUshed. There may be a transport device (60), or cell membranes may not be very permeable to phosphate ions minimising the loss of HPO from intracellular fluid (61). 

Guyton, A. C., Chapter 33, Partition of the Body Fluids Osmotic Equilibria between Extracellular and Intracellular Fluids , in Textbook of Medical Physiology (5th Edition), (Ed.) Guyton A. C., i,1A-Ayi, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia (1976)... 

A substrate is a substance that is the basic component of an organism. Protein substrates are amino acids, which are essential to life Protein substrates are amino acid preparations that act to promote the production of proteins (anabolism). Amino acids are necessary to promote synthesis of structural components, reduce the rate of protein breakdown (catabolism), promote wound healing, and act as buffers in the extracellular and intracellular fluids. Crystalline amino acid preparations are hypertonic solutions of balanced essential and nonessential amino acid concentrations that provide substrates for protein synthesis or act to conserve existing body protein. 

Involved in membrane function principal cations of extracellular-and intracellular fluids, respectively Sodium, potassium... 

Striated muscle is composed of multinucleated muscle fiber cells surrounded by an electrically excitable plasma membrane, the sarcolemma. An individual muscle fiber cell, which may extend the entire length of the muscle, contains a bundle of many myofibrils arranged in parallel, embedded in intracellular fluid termed sarcoplasm. Within this fluid is contained glycogen, the high-energy compounds ATP and phosphocreatine, and the enzymes of glycolysis. 

Identify the electrolytes primarily found in the extracellular and intracellular fluid compartments. 

O Total body water (TBW) is approximately 50% of lean body weight in the normal female and 60% of lean body weight in males. TBW is comprised of the intracellular fluid (two-thirds of TBW) and the extracellular fluid (one-third of TBW). The extracellular fluid is made up of two major fluid subcompartments the interstitial space and the intravascular space. 

The intracellular fluid (ICF) represents the water contained within cells and is rich in electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, phosphates, and proteins. O The ICF is approximately two-thirds of TBW regardless of gender. For a 70-kg man, this would mean that the TBW is 42 L and the ICF is approximately 28 L. For a 70-kg woman, these values would be 35 L and 24 L, respectively. Note that ICF represents approximately 40% of total body weight in men and approximately 33% of total body weight in women. 

Potassium is the second most abundant cation in the body and is found primarily in the intracellular fluid. Potassium has many important physiologic functions, including regulation of cell membrane electrical action potential (especially in the myocardium), muscular function, cellular metabolism, and glycogen and protein synthesis. Potassium in PN can be provided as chloride, acetate, and phosphate salts. One millimole of potassium phosphate provides 1.47 mEq of elemental potassium. Generally, the concentration of potassium in peripheral PN (PPN) admixtures should not exceed 80 mEq/L (80 mmol/L). While it is safer to also stick to the 80 mEq/L (80 mmol/L) limit for administration through a central vein, the maximum recommended potassium concentration for infusion via a central vein is 150 mEq/L (150 mmol/L).14 Patients with abnormal potassium losses (e.g., loop or thiazide diuretic therapy) may have higher requirements, and patients with renal failure may require potassium restriction. 

In a recent article by Dyatlov et al. (1998), a method for the determination of Pb+2 and Ca+2 in intracellular fluids was described. In this method, a fluorescent, calcium indicator (fluo-3) was used. 

Each cell is surrounded by a plasma membrane that separates the cytoplasmic contents of the cell, or the intracellular fluid, from the fluid outside the cell, the extracellular fluid. An important homeostatic function of this plasma membrane is to serve as a permeability barrier that insulates or protects the cytoplasm from immediate changes in the surrounding environment. Furthermore, it allows the cell to maintain a cytoplasmic composition very different from that of the extracellular fluid the functions of neurons and muscle cells depend on this difference. The plasma membrane also contains many enzymes and other components such as antigens and receptors that allow cells to interact with other cells, neurotransmitters, blood-borne substances such as hormones, and various other chemical substances, such as drugs. 

Most hydrophilic, or water-soluble, substances are repelled by this hydrophobic interior and cannot simply diffuse through the membrane. Instead, these substances must cross the membrane using specialized transport mechanisms. Examples of lipid-insoluble substances that require such mechanisms include nutrient molecules, such as glucose and amino acids, and all species of ions (Na+, Ca++, H+, Cl, and HC03). Therefore, the plasma membrane plays a very important role in determining the composition of the intracellular fluid by selectively permitting substances to move in and out of the cell. 

With active transport, energy is expended to move a substance against its concentration gradient from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration. This process is used to accumulate a substance on one side of the plasma membrane or the other. The most common example of active transport is the sodium-potassium pump that involves the activity of Na+-K+ ATPase, an intrinsic membrane protein. For each ATP molecule hydrolyzed by Na+-K+ ATPase, this pump moves three Na+ ions out of the cell and two K+ ions into it. As will be discussed further in the next chapter, the activity of this pump contributes to the difference in composition of the extracellular and intracellular fluids necessary for nerve and muscle cells to function. 

Ion Extracellular fluid Intracellular fluid Relative permeability... 

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