Rate of Potassium Exchange in the Rat Erythrocyte.

Abstract

(1) 5.0% of the intracellular potassium of the rat erythrocyte exchanges every hour, or 5.2 millimoles of potassium per liter of cells per hour. (2) 2.5 millimoles of glucose are utilized per hour per liter of rat erythrocytes. (3) The rat erythrocyte exchanges about 3 1/2 times as much potassium per unit time as does the human erythrocyte. (4) The human erythrocyte utilizes nearly a millimole of glucose for every millimole of potassium that enters the cell. The rat erythrocyte utilizes less than 1/2 a millimole of glucose for every millimole of potassium that enters the cell.