Abstract
Summary
The rate of transfer of chloride into and out of human erythrocytes was estimated in vitro with Cl36 and found to be at least 600 to 1300 times greater than that of sodium and potassium respectively. Incubation at low temperature, the conversion of hemoglobin to methemoglobin, and the addition of metabolic poisons, were all without detectable effect on the rate of transfer. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that chloride enters erythrocytes by passive diffusion, but they do not eliminate the possibility that metabolic processes responsible for Cl transfer may exist which are capable of transporting chloride into and out of the red cell at a very rapid rate.
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