Membrane transport abnormalities in patients with renal failure

The possibility that changes in membrane transport systems may contribute to the pathophysiology of the uraeraic syndrome has not been extensively studied. This thesis presents a study of eight erythrocyte membrane transport systems, namely the Na/K pump, the amino acid systems y+, ASC, gly, L and T, the nucleoside and choline transporters. The results indicate that, compared to normal controls, K+ flux through the Na/K pump was reduced in chronic renal failure patients (CRF), on haemodialysis (HD), and on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), but was normal in functional transplant (FT) patients' erythrocytes. The number of Na/K pumps per erythrocyte was decreased in CRF and CAPD but showed no differences between HD, FT and Normal controls. The mean turnover rate per pump site was reduced in patients on HD, whereas other groups were not significantly different from controls. Cross-incubation experiments suggest that the lowered pump flux seen in the HD group was due to plasma factors since reversibility of the defect was achieved when those cells were incubated in normal plasma. The defect was completely reversed with a successful transplant. Erythrocytes from haemodialysis patients exhibited an increased uptake of L-lysine through the y+ system. The uptake of L-serine was decreased and the affinity of the ASC system for L-serine was increased in these patients compared with controls. The glycine transporter showed a significant increase in affinity for glycine. The flux of L-leucine and L-tryptophan showed no differences from control cells. Erythrocyte membrane transport of uridine was similar in normal control cells and in those obtained from uraemic patients. Choline influx rates were significantly increased and affinity of the transporter for choline reduced in dialysis patients' erythrocytes. Renal transplant and CRF patients showed variable influx rates which gave a significant negative correlation with creatinine clearance. These results show that there are selective abnormalities in some membrane transport system of the erythrocyte in patients with renal failure. The mechanism and possible significance of these changes are discussed.