Importance of chloride for the correction of chronic metabolic alkalosis in the rat.

To determine whether chloride repletion without sodium could correct chronic chloride depletion metabolic alkalosis (CDA) in Sprague-Dawley rats without volume expansion and without increasing glomerular filtration rate (GFR), CDA was generated by peritoneal dialysis (PD) against 0.15 M NaHCO3 and maintained for 7-10 days by a chloride-restricted diet supplemented with sodium and potassium salts. Control animals were dialyzed against Ringer bicarbonate. The maintenance period of chronic CDA, compared with control, was characterized by hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis (serum TCO2 31.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 23.1 +/- 0.5 meq/l, P less than 0.05), volume contraction (plasma volume 3.76 +/- 0.08 vs. 4.19 +/- 0.22 ml/100 g body wt, P less than 0.05), decreased GFR (838 +/- 84 vs. 1045 +/- 45 microliters.min-1.100 g body wt-1, P less than 0.05), increased plasma renin activity (PRA) (63 +/- 13 vs. 12 +/- 3 ng.ml-1.h-1, P less than 0.05), but unchanged plasma aldosterone concentrations (PAC) (4.1 +/- 1.0 vs. 3.4 +/- 1.6 ng/dl, P = NS). Complete correction of chronic CDA was accomplished by 24 h of ingestion of choline chloride drink, and despite negative sodium balance, neutral potassium balance, continued bicarbonate ingestion, and persistent volume contraction (plasma volume 3.76 +/- 0.08 vs. 3.73 +/- 0.12 ml/100 g body wt pre- and postcorrection, P = NS), GFR remained decreased (659 +/- 87 vs. 1,045 +/- 45 microliters.min-1.100 g body wt-1, P less than 0.05), PRA decreased (63 +/- 13 vs. 33 +/- 5 ng.ml-1.h-1, P less than 0.05), but PAC did not change (4.1 +/- 1.0 vs. 6.1 +/- 1.6 ng/dl, P = NS) after correction of CDA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)