Erythrocyte sodium/hydrogen exchange activity and albuminuria in type 1 diabetic families

Enhanced Na/Li countert r a n s p o rt (NLCT) and Na/H exchange (NHE) have been suggested to predict diabetic nephropathy (1–3). Nevert h e l e s s , other studies have excluded this hypothesis (4). We found NHE activity incre a s e d in type 1 diabetes (5), yet we could not detect any relationship between NHE and u r i n a ry albumin excretion rate (UAER) either in essential hypertension (6) or in type 1 diabetes. There f o re, we measure d e ry t h rocyte NHE activity and UAER in healthy nondiabetic family members of type 1 diabetic patients with or without diabetic nephro p a t h