Water gain in the brain consequent to hyponatremia is counteracted by mechanisms that initially include a compensatory displacement of liquid from the interstitial space to cerebrospinal fluid and systemic circulation and subsequently an active reduction in cell water accomplished by extrusion of intracellular osmolytes to reach osmotic equilibrium. Potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), amino acids, ...

Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome (DDS) is characterized by the neurologic deterioration and cerebral edema that occurs after hemodialysis. To investigate the pathogenesis of DDS, the effects of rapid hemodialysis on brain electrolytes, urea, and several organic osmolytes were studied in the rat. Forty-two h after bilateral ureteral ligation, 11 uremic rats were hemodialyzed for 90 min, yielding...

Venkatesu P, Lee MJ, Lin HM. J Phys Chem B. 2009 Apr 16;113(15):5327-38 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei 106-07, Taiwan. The stability of proteins is reduced by urea, which is methylamine and nonprotecting osmolyte; eventually urea destabilizes the activity and function and alters the structure of protei...

In recent years, it has become evident that the volume of a given cell is an important factor not only in defining its intracellular osmolality and its shape, but also in defining other cellular functions, such as transepithelial transport, cell migration, cell growth, cell death, and the regulation of intracellular metabolism. In addition, besides inorganic osmolytes, the existence of organic ...

The production and consumption of organic matter by marine organisms plays a central role in the carbon cycle. Labile compounds (metabolites) are major currency energetic demands organismal interaction, but these remain elusive because their rapid turnover concomitant minuscule concentrations dissolved pool. Organic osmolytes group small metabolites synthesized at high intracellular (mM) to reg...