Alkalosis from Chloride-Deficient Neo-Mull-Soy

To the Editor: In a letter in the September 13 issue, it was suggested that a diet containing little chloride and a moderately large amount of citrate provoked hypokalemic hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis in infants.¹ We have studied rats maintained for two to three weeks on a low-chloride diet containing a normal amount of sodium and a moderately increased quantity of citrate. These rats grew normally, maintained a normal hematocrit, and had no abnormalities in serum electrolytes, pH or partial pressure of serum carbon dioxide. When these rats were chloride-depleted by the administration of furosemide, net acid excretion increased and metabolic. No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.