[Comparative study of potassium-sparing effects of triamterene and amiloride in the treatment with hydrochlorothiazide]. / Sravnitel'noe izuchenie kaliisberegaiushchego éffekta triamterena i amilorida pri lechenii gidrokhlortiazidom.

Hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), 25 or 50 mg a day, alone and in combination with triamterene (T), 50 and 100 mg, respectively, or amiloride (A), 2.5 and 5 mg, respectively, was examined for effects on daily urinary potassium and sodium excretion. Daily sodium excretion was increased 1.5-2-fold with a double dose of the combined drugs as compared with their single dose. T and A produced additive effects on the natriuretic action of HCT. Lower doses of HCT and T failed to prevent urinary potassium loss, but their potassium-sparing effect was shown with their double dose. This effect was largely displayed by A given in a single or double dose. Lower serum potassium levels were seen with all the drugs, but this was less marked with HCT combined with T or A than with HCT monotherapy. Their double dose reduced serum potassium levels to an insignificantly greater extent. In some cases, the elderly patients developed hyperkalemia during the combined therapy. Thus, with the routine dose ratios, A showed a slightly higher potassium-sparing effect than did T. Some patients taking HCT in combination with T showed reddish-brown crystals and casts in the urinary sediment, which may indicate its tubular interstitial damaging action. Consequently, use of the combined drugs is more preferable than HCT monotherapy, and HCT in combination with A is likely to be more preferable than that with T.

[The calcium concentration of the blood in arterial hypertension patients]. / Kontsentratsiia kal'tsiia v krovi bol'nykh arterial'noi gipertoniei.

Determination of the concentration of ionized calcium in the blood of metallurgists and miners with arterial hypertension (AN) revealed a tendency to reduction of calcemia that was more pronounced in high arterial pressure and low consumption of calcium with food. A tendency to reduce calcemia by stimulating PTH secretion has a pathophysiological significance in the development of AH. A calcium-enriched diet may be of value in the prophylaxis of AH.

[Effect of nifedipine on renal activity]. / Vliianie nifedipina na deiatel'nost' pochek.

Sublingual administration of nifedipine (N) at a dose of 20 mg to 8 persons without cardiovascular and renal pathology and to 19 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) increased renal excretion of sodium (by an average of 51.1-132.8%), water (by an average of 31.7-101.9%), potassium (by an average of 43.2-63.2%) and calcium (by an average of 118%). The natriuretic effect of N appeared in 20 min reaching its maximum in 45-60 min, being more noticeable in CHF. An increment of natriuresis resulted from a decrease in sodium tubular reabsorption (correlation factor--0.92) rather than from an increase in glomerular filtration (correlation factor +0.50). N suppressed sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubule (by an average of 34.1%) as well as in the segment, more distal of Henle's loop (by an average of 6.8%). N might suppress directly calcium-dependent mechanisms of sodium transtubular transport but it could also produce a mediated effect as a result of shifts of renal hemodynamics.

[Changes in the electrolyte composition of the blood of humans and animals under the influence of thyrocalcitonin]. / Izmeneniia élektrolitnogo sostava krovi cheloveka i zhivotnykh pod vliianiem tirokal'tsitonina

A study was made of the effect of the thyroid hormone thyrocalcitonin (TCT) on the electrolyte composition of the plasma and erythrocytes. In healthy persons and in the patients with various diseases of the cardiovascular system administration of 1 Unit of TCT per 1 kg of weight led to a significant reduction of the total plasma calcium and its diffusible fraction and also of plasma sodium. A course treatment with the hormone led to the enhancement of the hypocalciemic effect. In dogs administration of 10 Units of TCT per 1 kg of weight produced a more pronounced hypocalciemic effect. The rest of blood electrolytes displayed no significant changes.