Sodium and calcium cation transport of erythrocytes in essential hypertension

The sodium and calcium transport of erythrocyte and the influencing factors were studied in essential hypertensive (EH) subjects. The result showed that plasma endogenous digitalis-like compound (EDLC) increased and sodium pump depressed in some EH patients, but there were no parallel correlation between EDLC and sodium pump. The patients with normal sodium pump mainly showed their maximal Ca2+ pump activity and decreased calmodulin (CaM) content of erythrocyte. Thus there may be different types of ion transport defect in EH, and the abnormalities of these cation transports have an important role in the pathogenesis of EH.