Fig. 5.

Short-term (3 days) dietary Mg²⁺ restriction overrides the effect of K⁺ deficiency on Na⁺-Cl⁻ cotransporter (NCC). A: plasma [K⁺] was significantly lower on K⁺-deficient (D) diet and on Mg²⁺-K⁺ deficient diet compared with normal diet (N) and Mg²⁺-deficient diet (one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple-comparison test). Plasma [Mg²⁺] was significantly lower on Mg²⁺-deficient and Mg²⁺-K⁺-deficient diet compared with normal diet and K⁺-deficient diet (one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple-comparison test). B: Western blot analysis of whole kidney lysates showed that total NCC (tNCC) abundance was significantly lower on Mg²⁺-deficient diet and on Mg²⁺-K⁺-deficient diet than on normal diet and K⁺-deficient diet (one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple-comparison test). C: phosphorylated (p)NCC abundance was significantly higher on K⁺-deficient diet than all other study groups (one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple-comparison test). For blot quantification, densitometric values were normalized using Coomassie-stained gels. Values are means ± SE; values in parentheses indicate n values. *P < 0.01; **P < 0.001; ***P < 0.0001.