Changes in Na concentration in cerebrospinal fluid during acute hypernatremia and their effect on drinking in juvenile rats.

To clarify if there are age-related differences in osmoreception, we measured changes in Na concentration in cerebrospinal fluid ([Na]csf) during and after acute hypernatremia in juvenile (JR) and adult rats (AR). The Na concentrations in plasma ([Na]pl) and [Na]csf were measured during intravenous infusion of 1 M NaCl solution (INF, 0.2 ml/100 g body wt. for 10 min) and for 20 min thereafter in anesthetized rats. To measure [Na]pl, a flow-through Na-sensitive electrode was placed in an extracorporeal shunt from a carotid artery to a jugular vein, and to measure [Na]csf, a Na-sensitive electrode was placed in the right lateral ventricle. There was a linear relationship between delta[Na]pl and delta[Na]csf during INF. The slope of delta[Na]pl vs. delta[Na]csf was 0.42 +/- 0.03 (n = 7) in JR, which was significantly higher (p less than 0.01) than in AR (0.23 +/- 0.04, n = 6). We also measured water intake during and after INF of the same amount of 1 M NaCl solution in conscious JR (n = 6) and AR (n = 6). The JR drank 1.93 +/- 0.22 ml/100 g body wt. of water within 30 min of the start of INF, which was significantly more (p less than 0.05) than AR drank (1.20 +/- 0.13 ml/100 g body wt.). These results indicate that the movement of Na or water, or both, between the blood and cerebrospinal fluid in acute hypernatremia is greater in JR, and that the osmoreceptors in JR are more sensitive than those in AR.