Why is it important to keep the sodium level of the plasma volume so much higher than the sodium level of the intracellular volume?
A. Intracellular sodium is toxic to living human cells.
B. Excess sodium displaces oxygen on the hemoglobin of red blood cells.
C. High plasma levels of sodium are needed to balance the high plasma levels of magnesium.
D. Excitable membranes are dependent on sodium concentration differences for de-polarization.
D
The trigger for membrane depolarization of excitable membranes is the rapid movement of so-dium from the extracellular fluid into the cells. If the sodium concentrations of the extracellular fluid and the intracellular fluid were equal or nearly equal, no polarity would exist and excitable membranes could not depolarize for nerve impulse transmission or muscle contraction.
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