Lowered Colloid Osmotic Pressure Leads to Water and Salt Retention and Edema Formation

Abstract

Eight hundred cc. of blood were removed by puncture of the right ventricle from a dog weighing 13 kilos. The citrated blood was centrifuged and the supernatant plasma pipetted off. The corpuscles were suspended in a quantity of Ringer's solution equal to the plasma pipetted off, again centrifuged and the supernatant Ringer's solution pipetted off. The corpuscles were now suspended in Ringer's solution containing 0.1% glucose in quantity sufficient to bring up the total volume to 800 cc. This was injected into the jugular vein. 200 cc. of Ringer's solution were also injected into the jugular vein. This procedure, bleeding, removal of plasma, suspension of corpuscles in Ringer's solution and reinjection into the jugular vein, was done 5 times in 18 hours. The plasma proteins were 1.7% at the time of the third removal of blood from the dog's ventricle. The plasma proteins were 2.2% and the osmotic pressure as measured in the osmometer was 5.0 mm. Hg. at the beginning of the fifth removal of blood plasma.

The dog received 500 cc. of physiological salt solution by stomach tube at 5 different times, 2500 cc. in all. In addition he drank voluntarily 1260 cc. of water. The dog received a total of 4760 cc. of water and 31.5 gm. of salt above what his body contained at the start of the experiment. The dog put out 950 cc. of urine containing 9.3 gm. of salt in 26 hours, 3800 cc. of water and 22.5 gm. of salt were retained. The dog gained 3300 gm. in weight in 22 hours. The dog showed pitting edema and ascites at the end of 26 hours when he was sacrificed. There were 500 cc. of ascitic fluid in the abdomen and there was edema of the subcutaneous tissues of the legs at autopsy examination. Examination of the kidneys revealed normal kidneys.