Natriuretic response to acute sodium chloride or sodium bicarbonate infusions in humans

We compared the natriuretic responses to acute sodium chloride or sodium bicarbonate loading. 2.25 mEq/kg of sodium as sodium chloride, or sodium bicarbonate was infused intravenously in 1 h. Sodium chloride infusion resulted in a gradual increase in urinary sodium excretion (UNaV) for 4 h after starting the infusion, while sodium bicarbonate infusion caused a transient increase in UNaV for the first 2 h followed by a decrease. The amount of sodium excreted over 4 h in the sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate groups were 20.7 +/- 4.7 and 34.8 +/- 2.3% of the sodium loaded, respectively (p < 0.05). This difference could not be ascribed to divergent responses in glomerular filtration rate, aldosterone, atrial natriuretic peptide, or serum albumin concentration. The difference in UNaV might be caused by the differences in renal tubular handling of chloride and bicarbonate.