Change in Kidney Tubule Functions on a Diet Poor in Sodium Chloride

Abstract

WHEN normal individuals are put on a diet poor in sodium chloride, the urinary output falls to very low levels within a few days. This happens although the serum sodium and glomerular filtration-rate are reduced only slightly, a consideration which led us to question the emphasis laid by Wesson et al.¹ on sodium load as the major determinant of sodium excretion. Their view that small variations in serum sodium and in glomerular filtration-rate account for variations in sodium excretion is difficult to test, since the variations they postulate are inaccessible to the methods available for determining glomerular filtration-rate and serum sodium.