Development of concepts on sodium regulation in XX century

Abstract

The 20th century is the time of the birth of many scientific areas, including the physiology of the kidneys and water-salt metabolism. This article is devoted to the history of the development of one of its directions - the issue of regulation of sodium homeostasis in the body. This article is the first attempt in the Russianspeaking space to summarize the achievements in the study of sodium regulation. For many decades, scientists from different countries have studied the influence of various factors on sodium excretion: blood pressure, atrial peptides, hormones of the neurohypophysis and adrenal glands, renal nerves, infusion of various substances, etc. It was found that sodium excretion does not directly depend on changes in blood pressure and glomerular filtration rate. Atrial peptides causing natriuresis were discovered, their structure and mechanism of action were described in detail. The role of the hormones of the neurohypophysis - vasopressin and oxytocin - in the excretion of sodium, as well as the role of aldosterone and angiotensin II in the reabsorption of this cation was shown. It has been shown that the administration of hypertonic solutions of sodium chloride causes a greater natriuretic response than the administration of other substances (sodium sulfate and acetate, glucose, mannitol, etc.), and the idea of the existence of sodium-s ensitive receptors has also been put forward.

Keywords

• physiology of kidneys and water-salt metabolism
• sodium excretion
• sodium reabsorption
• sodium homeostasis
• renal function
• history of biology
• history of medicine