Brain buffering is restored in hyponatremic rats by correcting their plasma sodium concentration

Previous studies from this laboratory showed that both acute and chronic hyponatremia impaired active brain buffering. These studies were performed to determine whether correcting the plasma sodium restored normal buffering in hyponatremic rats. Acute (1- and 2-day) and chronic (7- and 14-day) hyponatremia was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by constant desmopressin administration combined with a liquid diet. Plasma sodium was corrected by stopping desmopressin for 6 h, substituting solid chow, and allowing free access to water. Studies were performed 24 h later. Uncorrected hyponatremic rats who continued to receive desmopressin and liquid diet served as controls. Brain pH was determined by [31P]NMR in rats anesthetized with N2O and paralyzed with pancuronium. Brain buffering was determined by the response to CO2 loading. Resting brain pH was the same in corrected and uncorrected rats, but the two groups responded differently to CO2 loading. Thus, 55 min after ventilation with 20% CO2, corrected rat brain pH was 0.13 pH units higher than in uncorrected rats despite statistically similar changes in CO2 tension and arterial pH in both groups. Moreover, 15 min into recovery from CO2 exposure, brain pH in corrected rats overshot resting pH by 0.07, whereas no overshoot occurred in uncorrected rats. Buffering in corrected rats was identical to that shown previously in normonatremic rats. The complete restoration of late-phase buffering achieved by normalizing the plasma sodium of hyponatremic rats indicates that at least some portion of active hydrogen ion transport is sodium dependent in the brain.