Abstract
Mercuric cysteine was a relatively ineffective diuretic agent in dogs excreting an alkaline urine in response to i.m. injections of acetazolamide. In contrast, the mercurial was highly effective when hydrochlorothiazide was injected in place of acetazolamide. The difference in the activity of mercuric cysteine in these two situations was not related to the level of sodium chloride and water excretion, the rate of glomerular filtration or the rate of filtration of chloride at the time mercury was administered. The only measured parameter with which there was a significant correlation was urinary pH: at a high pH, the action of mercuric cysteine was weak; at a pH of less than 7.4, the action was strong. We conclude that acidbase conditions influence the response to organic mercuriale not only by altering the rate of rupture of carbon-mercury bonds but also by another, as yet undefined, mechanism. Our additional observation that mercuric cysteine reduced the enhanced excretion of potassium brought about by acetazolamide or by hydrochlorothiazide clearly demonstrates that the potassium-sparing effect of mercurials is not linked to their diuretic effects.
Footnotes
- Received July 8, 1970.
- Accepted August 31, 1970.
- © 1970 by The Williams & Wilkins Co.
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