Potassium is the major intracellular cation of the body, with almost all the body’s content found within cells, the majority of it bound to phosphate and protein.
Tissue oxygen delivery can be regulated through either changes in blood flow or changes in oxygen loss from hemoglobin.
Blood flow in tissue is determined by the pressure difference between the arterial and venous sides of its circulation and the resistance to flow offered by its own vasculature. Blood flow is normally regulated directly in response to cardiac work.
Regulation of Blood flows occurs by means of three basic regulatory mechanism metabolic, myogenic and paracrine.
Metabolic regulation refers to changes in blood flow that occur in response to alterations in the ratio of blood flow to the metabolic requirements of tissue and it is mediated by vasodilator metabolites, including adenosine, potassium ions, CO2 and hydrogen ions released from parenchymal cells.
Potassium ion appears to play a role in causing the increase in blood flow in contracting skeletal muscle.
Potassium is released from muscle fibers during contractile activity and accumulates in the interstitial space, where it could influence blood flow by interacting with the vasculature.
Potassium role in regulating blood flow
