[en] The major purpose of the present study was the identification and quantification of changes in Na,K-pumps in skeletal muscles with age, K-depletion and thyroid status. Furthermore, the putative difference in skeletal muscle Na,K-pump concentration between spontaneously hypertensive rats and normotensive controls was investigated. On the basis of the observation of major changes in ³H-ouabain binding site concentration in skeletal muscle with age, K-depletion and thyroid status and the large increase in skeletal muscle Na/K-ratio with K-depletion, the consequences of these variations for cell properties, K-homeostasis and digitalis distribution was evaluated. The present investigation was carried out mainly by measurements of Na,K-pump concentrations, Na,K-contents and K-uptake in skeletal muscles. Hitherto, the Na,K-pump concentration in muscle has mainly been quantified by measurements of the Na,K-ATPase activity in purified membrane fractions. The use of such preparations are, however, complicated by a recovery of plasma membranes of often less than 5% of that in intact tissue. Although this low yield may not affect the interpretation of qualitative studies, it represents a potentially large source of error in quantitative determinations of the Na,K-pumps. Thus, in the present study the Na,K-pumps were quantified by measurements of ³-ouabain binding, as this method allows the determination of the total Na,K-pump concentration after identification and correction for methodological problems. (author)

[en] Previous studies have shown an increase in ³H-ouabain binding sites or Na,K-pumps in vitro in cultured cells in response to incubation in low K, diuretics or lithium. However, in the present study the administration in vivo of various diuretics or lithium combined with supplementary K was not associated with any significant changes in Na,K-content or ³H-ouabain binding site concentration in rat skeletal muscle. When the diuretics were administered in combination with only the basal K requirement a decrease in both K-content and ³H-ouabain binding site concentration was seen. This indicates that the decrease in ³H-ouabain binding site concentration is not caused by these drugs per se but is secondary to the associated K-depletion. The discrepancy between the results obtained using isolated cells and rat skeletal muscles could be related to the fact that cultured cells are not subjected to the normal growth control of the intact organism. It should be emphasized that results obtained using cultured cells do not necessarily reflect processes taking place in the intact organism. (author)

[en] The importance of specific digitalis glycoside binding sites in skeletal muscle for the digitalis glycoside distribution in the guinea pig was evaluated using [³H]ouabain and [³H]digoxin binding assays. Measurements of [³H]ouabain binding capacity (EOmax) in gastrocnemius and heart muscles in vitro gave values of 474 +/- 15 and 1,092 +/- 39 pmol/g wet wt., respectively, in 4-week-old guinea pigs. Hence the total amount of [³H]ouabain binding sites in skeletal muscle and the heart was around 42,700 and 1,200 pmol, respectively. The apparent dissociation constants (Kd) for ouabain receptor interaction was 0.7 X 10(-7) and 1.5 X 10(-7) M for skeletal muscle and heart, respectively. Comparison of [³H]ouabain and [³H]digoxin binding revealed that these drugs are competitive. From birth to maturity the concentration of [³H]ouabain binding sites in guinea pigs decreased from 803 +/- 58 to 304 +/- 28 pmol/g wet wt. in gastrocnemius muscle and from 1,458 +/- 31 to 1,079 +/- 19 pmol/g wet wt. in the heart. After i.p. injection, measurements of the distribution of [³H]ouabain in plasma, skeletal muscle and the heart showed an almost equal relative specific occupancy of digitalis glycoside receptors in skeletal muscle and the heart: When 10% of the digitalis receptors in the heart were occupied by [³H]ouabain, 13% of those in the skeletal muscles were occupied. It was calculated that 1 hr after the i.p. administration of [³H]ouabain the amount of [³H]ouabain specifically bound to the skeletal muscles and the heart corresponded to 5 times and 1/10 the amount available in the extracellular pool, respectively