Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Pharmacological Reviews
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Pharmacological Reviews

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Visit Pharm Rev on Facebook
  • Follow Pharm Rev on Twitter
  • Follow ASPET on LinkedIn
Research Article

THE PHARMACOLOGY OF TRIS(HYDROXYMETHYL) AMINOMETHANE (THAM)

GABRIEL G. NAHAS
Pharmacological Reviews September 1962, 14 (3) 447-472;
GABRIEL G. NAHAS
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

THAM is a titrating agent in vivo as well as in vitro, and its ionized fraction acts in the kidney as a non-reabsorbable cation. Since, at normal blood pH, THAM is 70% ionized, the larger part of the compound remains in the extracellular fluid and is rapidly excreted in the presence of a functional kidney. By reducing the pCO2 in the extracellular space, THAM could reduce intracellular pH as well. However, such a reduction of intracellular pCO2 is limited by TIJAM's depressant effect on ventilation, an effect which rapidly restores to normal and then elevates plasma pCO2 in the presence of an alkaline pH. The fraction of THAM which penetrates into the cells is, at intracellular pH, 90% ionized and may "overtitrate" the intracellular spaces. As ionized THAM accumulates in the cell, K+ moves out in order to restore the normal Donnan ratio. In addition to this action on by migration, THAM does not act as a simple buffer inside the cell but most likely interacts with enzyme systems. These interactions remain to be determined and distinguished from the pH effect of THAM. Compounds similar to THAM which would penetrate at a relatively slow rate into cells and modify intracellular pH would be very useful (90) in experimental work in order to alter the activity of specific enzymes. However, their ready availability is unlikely, primarily because of the instability of most organic compounds in vivo. Meanwhile, THAM is a very useful tool for the physiologists and pharmacologists who wish to study the effects of acid-base balance alterations. When used judiciously it has also been helpful in clinical medicine. During acidosis, severe metabolic disturbances overwhelm homeostatic mechanisms and many forms of therapy become ineffective. The administration of THAM, by restoring pH of body fluids to normal, potentially can provide optimum conditions for the restoration of homeostasis and for standard therapeutic procedures.

PharmRev articles become freely available 12 months after publication, and remain freely available for 5 years. 

Non-open access articles that fall outside this five year window are available only to institutional subscribers and current ASPET members, or through the article purchase feature at the bottom of the page. 

 

  • Click here for information on institutional subscriptions.
  • Click here for information on individual ASPET membership.

 

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Pharmacological Reviews
Vol. 14, Issue 3
1 Sep 1962
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for sharing this Pharmacological Reviews article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
THE PHARMACOLOGY OF TRIS(HYDROXYMETHYL) AMINOMETHANE (THAM)
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Pharmacological Reviews
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Pharmacological Reviews.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Research Article

THE PHARMACOLOGY OF TRIS(HYDROXYMETHYL) AMINOMETHANE (THAM)

GABRIEL G. NAHAS
Pharmacological Reviews September 1, 1962, 14 (3) 447-472;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Research Article

THE PHARMACOLOGY OF TRIS(HYDROXYMETHYL) AMINOMETHANE (THAM)

GABRIEL G. NAHAS
Pharmacological Reviews September 1, 1962, 14 (3) 447-472;
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

Similar Articles

Advertisement
  • Home
  • Alerts
Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   RSS

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive
  • Search for Articles
  • Feedback
  • ASPET

More Information

  • About Pharmacological Reviews
  • Editorial Board
  • Instructions to Authors
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Customized Alerts
  • RSS Feeds
  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions
  • Terms & Conditions of Use

ASPET's Other Journals

  • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
  • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • Molecular Pharmacology
  • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
ISSN 1521-0081 (Online)

Copyright © 2023 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics