Altered membrane sodium transport in Bartter's syndrome.

To explore the possibility that Bartter's syndrome is the manifestation of an inherited abnormality of sodium transport, we have measured various parameters of sodium transport in erythrocytes from patients with Bartter's syndrome, their siblings, and their parents. Sodium transport in six of the eight patients with Bartter's syndrome differed significantly from that in the other two patients. On the basis of this difference, the patients were divided into two groups (type I and type II). In the six type I patients, fractional sodium outflux (0.38+/-0.05/hr [SD]) was significantly less than normal (0.50+/-0.07) and erythrocyte sodium concentration (9.48+/-0.84 mmoles/liter cells per hr) was significantly greater than normal (5.24+/-0.66). In the two type II patients, none of the measured parameters of sodium transport differed significantly from normal. Erythrocyte sodium transport in the relatives of three type I patients was altered in a way similar to that in the type I patients and was significantly different from that in the relatives of a type II patient. These findings indicate the presence of inherited alterations of erythrocyte sodium transport in certain patients with Bartter's syndrome.