The effect of dialysate sodium concentration on body fluid compartment volume, plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone concentration in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Six stable chronic hemodialysis patients received six hemodialysis treatments: two each with the dialysate sodium concentration (DNa) 7% greater than serum sodium concentration, two with a DNa equal to serum sodium concentration and two with the DNa 7% less than the serum sodium concentration. During one treatment with each dialysate 2 kg of fluid was removed and during the other treatments the patient's weight was kept constant. Total body water (TBW), intracellular water (ICW), extracellular water (ECW), plasma volume (PV), plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone (ALDO), Na, BUN and osmolality were determined before and after each treatment. Fluid removal during dialysis had no effect on ICW with essentially all the fluid removed during dialysis coming from ECW. ICW increased with low DNa and decreased with high DNa. The effect of DNa on ECW and PV was the opposite of that on ICW. PRA increased and ALDO decreased during dialysis. Predialysis ALDO directly correlated with PRA (r = 0.68, p less than 0.001) but not with serum potassium concentration. Post dialysis ALDO was not significantly correlated with either PRA or potassium. Fluid removal and low DNa increased both PRA and ALDO. These studies indicate that water shifts from the extracellular space into intracellular space when DNa is lower than serum Na and the reverse is true when DNa exceeds serum Na. Plasma aldosterone decreases during dialysis despite an increase in PRA, possibly related to the decrease in serum potassium concentration. The effect of fluid removal and low DNa on PRA and ALDO may be related to a reduction in ECW and/or PV.