Magnesium handling by the papilla of the young rat

In a recent study it was found that in Mg loaded rats, the fraction of filtered Mg (% E Mg) recovered in the bend of the loop of Henle of papilla was greater than the filtered load. However, the site of this Mg addition was unspecified and could be either the juxtamedullary proximal tubule, the pars recta, or in the papilla, the descending limb of the loop of Henle. In order to investigate the movement of Mg in the various structures of the papilla, we have studied: 1. The transport of this electrolyte along the collecting duct. 2. Its relative concentration in the loop of Henle and in the adjacent vasa recta. The experiments have been performed in hydropenic and Mg loaded rats. In the collecting duct, the inulin and Mg concentrations increase proportionally, indicating an absence of any transport of Mg along this part of this nephron. In the vasa recta of the accessible papilla, the capillary over peripheral plasma Mg ratio (C/UF Mg) in hydropenia and after Mg loading [1.88 +/- 0.15 (ES) and 2.89 +/- 0.25] were significantly lower than the corresponding TF/UF Mg in the adjacent loops of Henle (2.90 +/- 0.17 and 4.04 +/- 0.37). This finding reduces the possibilities of a Mg passive diffusion from the capillaries to the tubular lumen, unless the electrical potential of the descending limb is more negative than -5 mV. The hypothesis of an active secretion, or a passive diffusion of Mg in the deep proximal tubule, in the pars recta, or in the early non accessible descending limb constitutes the other alternative.