What is being tested?Electrolytes are minerals that are found in body tissues and blood in the form of dissolved salts. As electrically charged particles, electrolytes help move nutrients into and wastes out of the body's cells, maintain a healthy water balance, and help stabilise the body's acid/base (pH) level. Electrolytes are usually measured as part of a renal profile which measures the main electrolytes in the body, sodium (Na
+), potassium (K
+), together with creatinine and/or urea, and may occasionally include chloride (Cl
-) and/or bicarbonate (HCO
3-) as well.
Most of the body's sodium is found in the extracellular fluid (ECF), outside of the body’s cells, where it helps to regulate the amount of water in your body. Potassium is found mainly inside the body’s cells. A small but vital amount of potassium is found in the plasma, the liquid portion of the blood. Monitoring potassium is important as small changes in the K
+ level can affect the heart’s rhythm and ability to contract. Chloride travels in and out of the cells to help maintain electrical neutrality, and its level usually mirrors that of sodium. The main job of bicarbonate, which is excreted and reabsorbed by the kidneys, is to help maintain a stable pH level and, secondarily, to help maintain electrical neutrality.
Your diet provides sodium, potassium, and chloride; your kidneys excrete them. Your lungs provide oxygen and regulate CO
2. The balance of these chemicals is an indication of the functional well-being of several basic body functions, including those performed by the kidneys and heart.
A related "test" is the anion gap, which is actually a calculated value. There is more than one formula: one is sodium minus (chloride plus bicarbonate) and the other is (sodium plus potassium) minus (chloride plus bicarbonate). The occurrence of an abnormal anion gap is non-specific but can suggest certain kinds of metabolic abnormalities, such as starvation or
diabetes, or the presence of a toxic substance, such as oxalate, glycolate, or aspirin.
