The sodium, potassium, and water contents of red blood cells of healthy human adults.

Abstract

Intracellular sodium and potassium concentra- tions in man can only be measured with ease and accuracy in red blood cells (RBC). Although there are many published reports of RBC sodium and potassium concentrations, the number of healthy subjects studied has been small, indirect methods of measurement have often been used, and biological sources of variation have not been defined. This paper describes the results of a study of 142 healthy adults and delineates some of the factors influencing RBC sodium and potassium concentrations.