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Water homeostasis 

Water homeostasis
Chapter:
Water homeostasis
Author(s):

David Marples

, and Søren Nielsen

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199592548.003.0022_update_001

Update:

Seven figures have been added

The section on factors controlling aquaporin 2 insertion and retrieval has been expanded and updated.

6 new references

Updated on 24 May 2018. The previous version of this content can be found here.
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date: 29 June 2022

Under normal circumstances, the maintenance of water balance is a question of balancing urine output against oral water intake, after allowance for the largely unregulated loss of water through other routes (respiratory, transcutaneous, and via the gastrointestinal tract). Normally, this is managed by the feedback mechanisms controlling thirst and diuresis, but in a medical context it is important to allow for other forms of administration that may not be under the control of the patient, and other routes of fluid loss, such as haemorrhage and drains. Electrolyte and water homeostasis are closely interrelated: the major trigger for both antidiuretic hormone (vasopressin) release (and hence renal water retention) and thirst is plasma osmolality. Sodium and chloride are the major solutes in extracellular fluid so are major determinants of body water content and circulating volume.

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