Determination of extracellular fluid volume in the dog with ferrocyanide

The suitability of ferocyanide as an indicator for the measurement of extracellular fluid volume was tested. Added ferrocyanide could be recovered completely from urine, plasma and blood. In in vitro experiments ferrocyanide did not penetrate into erythrocytes, nor did it adhere to the red cell membrane. In gel filtration and electrophoresis experiments binding of ferrocyanide to plasma proteins could not be demonstrated. In in vivo experiments on dogs, the urinary recovery of intravenously administered ferrocyanide was 98.9 +/- 2.1% (n = 14). The partition ratio of ferrocyanide between lymph water and plasma water was 0.99 +/- 0.02 (n = 20). Ferrocyanide could not be detected in cerebrospinal fluid or red cells of dogs after administration by intravenous infusion. No untoward effects of the infused ferrocyanide were observed during or after the experiments. In nephrectomized dogs ferrocyanide reached its ultimate distribution volume 2 hrs after intravenous administration of a single dose and remained constant for up to 10 hrs. The average distribution volume was 224 +/- 17 ml-kg-1 body mass (n = 6). In intact dogs continuously infused with indicator, ferrocyanide also reached its ultimate distribution volume in 2 hrs and remained constant thereafter for up to 7 hrs after the start of the infusion. The average distribution volume was 237 +/- 27 ml-kg-1 body mass (n = 14). It is concluded that ferrocyanide fulfils the requirements to be met by an indicator for the measurement of the extracellular volume, and is well suited for repeated determinations of the extracellular fluid volume in one and the same experiment.