Roles of urea production, ammonium excretion, and amino acid oxidation in acid-base balance

Atkinson and colleagues recently proposed several concepts that contrast with traditional views: first, that acid-base balance is regulated chiefly by the reactions leading to urea production in the liver; second, that ammonium excretion by the kidney plays no role in acid-base homeostasis; and third, that ammonium does not stimulate ureagenesis (except indirectly). To examine these concepts, plasma ions other than bicarbonate are categorized as 1) fixed cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+, symbolized M+) and anions (Cl-), 2) buffer anions (A-), 3) other anions (X-), and 4) ammonium plus charged amino groups (N+). Since electroneutrality dictates that M+ + N+ = Cl- + HCO3- + A- + X-, it follows that delta HCO3- = delta(M+ - Cl-) - delta A- - delta X- + delta N+. Therefore acid-base disturbances (changes in HCO3-) can be categorized as to how they affect bodily content and hence plasma concentration of each of these four types of ions. The stoichiometry of ureagenesis, glutamine hydrolysis, ammonium and titratable acid excretion, oxidation of neutral, acidic, and basic amino acids, and oxidation of methionine, phosphoserine, and protein are examined to see how they alter these quantities. It is concluded that 1) although ureagenesis is pH dependent and also counteracts a tendency of amino acid oxidation to cause alkalosis, this tendency is inherently limited by the hyperammonemia (delta N+) that necessarily accompanies it, 2) ammonium excretion is equivalent to hydrogen excretion in its effects on acid-base balance if, and only if, it occurs in exchange for sodium or is accompanied by chloride excretion and only when the glutamate generated by glutamine hydrolysis is oxidized.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)