EXTRACELLULAR FLUID (ECF)

SUMMARY

1. Think of ECF like an ‘internal sea’, a medium for exchange O2 & waste, crucial for cell function & survival.

2. ECF is iso-osmotic with ICF at osmotic equilibrium

3. ECF is best measured using inulin, a polysaccharide, MW5200

4. Transcellular water = that component of ECF that has been processed through cells into special compartments (aqueous humour, CSF, synovial fluid).

Reference(s)

Barrett, K.E., Barman, S.M., Boitano, S., Brooks, H.L., Weitz, M., Brian Patrick Kearns, Ganong, W.F. and Mcgraw-Hill Education (Firm (2016). Ganong’s review of medical physiology. 25th ed. New York: Mcgraw Hill Education.
Hall, J.E. and Hall, M.E. (2020). Guyton And Hall Textbook Of Medical Physiology. 14th ed. S.L.: Elsevier - Health Science.
West, J.B. and Luks, A.M. (2021). West’s Pulmonary Pathophysiology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.