Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Glen, A.I.M.
• Ongley, G.C.
• Robinson, K.

Titel

DIMINISHED MEMBRANE TRANSPORT IN MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSIS AND RECURRENT DEPRESSION

Ist Teil von

• The Lancet (British edition), 1968-01, Vol.292 (7562), p.241-243

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

1968

Quelle

Access via ScienceDirect (Elsevier)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Parotid saliva is secreted at the acinus isotonic with plasma and the final composition depends on the rate of flow (contact-time) and the rates of selective reabsorption or secretion of ions across the collecting duct walls. If flow-rate and ionic activity of the secreted saliva can be continuously measured then the rates of transport of ions across the duct walls could be continuously determined. At resting flow-rates (about 0·05 ml. per gland per minute) there is normally considerable sodium and bicarbonate reabsorption. Using a small-volume microelectrode system measuring sodium activity as pNa and bicarbonate as pH, thirty-one healthy individuals were compared with eighteen patients with manic-depressive or recurrent depressive illness (these patients are known to have a defect in the transport of sodium). Allowing for the rate of flow, the patients had significantly higher (P < 0·001) sodium activity and pH levels than the controls. It is suggested that the findings can only be interpreted as diminished membrane transport in the patients, and that the technique provides a simple method for in-vivo measurement of active transport in man.