Hyperkalemic renal tubular acidosis: effect of furosemide in humans and in rats.

Furosemide increases urinary acidification in control subjects and in certain patients with normokalemic or hypokalemic distal renal tubular acidosis (RTA). We studied the effect of furosemide in 14 patients with hyperkalemic distal RTA. In a group of patients with pure selective aldosterone deficiency, furosemide increased net acid and K excretion in a fashion indistinguishable from controls. This effect of furosemide was observed both in the presence and in the absence of acute mineralocorticoid administration. In another group of patients with hyperkalemic distal RTA, furosemide failed to decrease urine pH and to increase net acid excretion despite acute mineralocorticoid administration. Plasma aldosterone was variable in this group in that some patients had appropriate levels of aldosterone for the degree of hyperkalemia, whereas in the other patients the levels were low. The failure of these patients to respond to furosemide, despite pharmacologic doses of mineralocorticoid, suggests that these patients had a defect in H+ secretion other than that attributable to aldosterone deficiency alone. To gain insight into the mechanism whereby furosemide increases urinary acidification, we studied control and amiloride-treated rats pretreated with mineralocorticoid. In response to furosemide, control rats had a significantly lower urine pH and higher net acid and K excretion than that observed in amiloride-treated rats. These data suggest that furosemide increases H+ and K excretion, at least in part, by creating a favorable electric gradient for secretion of these ions since these effects were blunted in presence of inhibition of distal Na transport by amiloride.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)