Heterogeneity of the erythrocyte Na-K pump status in human obesity

The number of Na-K pump units, the Na-K-ATPase activity, the K transport turnover rate per pump unit and the intracellular Na and K concentrations were measured in the erythrocytes of 56 obese patients and 20 normal subjects. No differences were found between the two groups. In obese patients, we failed to observe any influence of dietary habits, age of onset, or family history of obesity on the Na pump status. On the other hand, we found that the number of pump units was not a close reflection of the membrane cation transport and in some patients with an abnormally high number of pump units, an inappropriately low Na-K-ATPase activity was observed. We also identified two small groups of obese patients with, respectively, abnormally high or low K transport turnover rate per pump unit. Our study seems to support the hypothesis that abnormalities in the erythrocyte Na-K pump system are not usual in the obese population but are probably present only in a limited number of selected patients.