Permselectivity of the peritoneal membrane.

To investigate the osmotic barrier characteristics of the peritoneal membrane during conditions similar to peritoneal dialysis in man, yet transperitoneal fluid movement was measured in 20 cats following intraabdominal placement of isotonic saline and hypertonic solutions of NaCl, glucose, raffinose, and inulin. Also, isooncotic solutions of hemoglobin and albumin and two sulfated high-molecular-weight dextrans were investigated. Transperitoneal fluid movement was measured by a volume recovery method. Oncotic pressures of test solutions and plasma were measured by osmometry. Peritoneal osmotic conductances were calculated from the rate of transperitoneal water movement and the difference in osmotic pressures between the test solution and isotonic saline. The average glucose osmotic conductance per unit body surface are was found to be 2.3 +/- 0.18 x 10(-3) ml . min-1 . mm Hg-1 . m-2, in good agreement with previous reports, and the glucose osmotic reflection coefficient (sigma) was estimated to be 0.02. All the osmotic conductances measured could be fitted to a peritoneal equivalent pore radius of approximately 6 nm according to current hydrodynamic theories. The peritoneal membrane filtration coefficient was estimated to be 0.12 ml . min-1 . mm Hg-1 . m-2, of which 0.5-1% was found to be due to transcellular water flow. In conclusion the results of this study indicate that the peritoneum is a highly selective membrane with restrictive properties comparable to those reported for continuous capillary beds.