Distribution of Lactate Between Corpuscles and Plasma in the Dog.

Abstract

In connection with an extensive series of studies on metabolism after anoxemia now in progress in this laboratory 1 it was found desirable to determine whether or no lactates were distributed evenly between the corpuscles and plasma of the dog.

It has long been known that a corpuscle plasma concentration gradient obtains for several substances. In 1867 Zuntz 2 showed that the serum of normal blood contains about twice as much carbon dioxide (bicarbonate) as the corpuscles. Gürber 3 found that chlorides and bicarbonates move in and out of the corpuscles as the carbon dioxide tension of the gases in contact with the blood changes, and Van Slyke and Cullen 4 demonstrated this shift with changes in carbon dioxide tension lying in the physiological range. The partition of fermentable sugar between corpuscles and plasma is unequal 5 and there is a well demonstrated corpuscle-plasma gradient of pH, 6 pNa and pK. 7

In a series of 6 experiments on resting amytalized dogs, determinations were made of the lactate content of plasma and of whole blood by the method of Friedemann, Cotonio and Shaffer. 8 The following values were obtained.

In 4 experiments in this laboratory it was found that the corpuscles constitute 47.3% of the blood volume. This agrees fairly well with the mean value of 45.21% found by Powers, Bowie and Howard on a series of twenty-five dogs. 9

Assuming that the corpuscles constitute 45.2% of the blood volume, calculation from the above data gives a value of 3.34 for the ratio plasma lactate concentration/corpuscle lactate concentration. While the finding is chiefly of qualitative interest, owing to the statistical inadequacy of the data, it is clear that there is a marked inequality in the distribution of lactate between the corpuscles and plasma of the dog.