An investigation of the relationship between the concentration of sodium and potassium in erythrocytes and plasma and blood pressure in 270 normal children and adolescents in Wuhan.

Abstract

We measured the blood pressure and the concentration of sodium and potassium in erythrocytes and plasma in 270 normal children and adolescents from 1 to 17 years of age and found that (1) in childhood and adolescence the blood pressure, the sodium and potassium concentration in erythrocytes and the sodium concentration in plasma tended to increase with age, whereas the plasma potassium concentration decreased with age; (2) there was no noticeable sex difference in the sodium and potassium concentration in erythrocytes or in plasma; (3) the mean values of sodium and potassium concentration in erythrocytes and those in plasma were 7.29 mEq/L and 90.30 mEq/L, and 131.95 mEq/L and 4.48 mEq/L respectively; and (4) there was a low grade correlation between the concentration of sodium and potassium in erythrocytes and plasma and the systolic and diastolic pressure.