Effect of low potassium-diet on Na-K-ATPase in rat nephron segments

Na-K-ATPase activity was determined in 10 segments of the rat nephron using a fluorometric microassay method [4]. The enzyme activity showed three peaks (greater than 200 pmol ADP min-1 mm-1) along the nephron of normal rats. These peaks were in the S1 portion of the proximal tubule, the medullary thick ascending limb from the inner stripe and the distal convoluted tubule. Feeding the rats a low potassium diet for 8 weeks produced a significant decrease in Na-K-ATPase activity in the cortical collecting duct, but no significant change in this enzyme in any other segment. The low potassium diet did not produce a significant change in Mg-ATPase in any nephron segments. We conclude that Na-K-ATPase activity along the rat nephron shows a pattern that is qualitatively similar to that seen in the rabbit nephron [4]. However, quantitatively the Na-K-ATPase activity in the rat nephron is greater than in the corresponding segments of the rabbit nephron. The results are consistent with the greater rate of glomerular filtration and Na+ reabsorption per rat nephron. Furthermore, our results suggest that the decrease in potassium excretion during potassium deficiency is modulated, at least in part, by the level of Na-K-ATPase activity in the cortical collecting duct.