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Depiction of a red blood cell in an isotonic solution. A solution is isotonic when its effective osmole concentration is the same as that of another solution. In biology, the solutions on either side of a cell membrane are isotonic if the concentration of solutes outside the cell is equal to the concentration of solutes inside the cell.
Plasmolysis is the process in which cells lose water in a hypertonic solution. The reverse process, deplasmolysis or cytolysis, can occur if the cell is in a hypotonic solution resulting in a lower external osmotic pressure and a net flow of water into the cell.
It occurs in a hypotonic environment, where water moves into the cell by osmosis and causes its volume to increase to the point where the volume exceeds the membrane's capacity and the cell bursts. The presence of a cell wall prevents the membrane from bursting, so cytolysis only occurs in animal and protozoa cells which do not have cell walls.
In hypertonic solutions water flows out of the cell and the cell shrinks (plasmolysis). In hypotonic solutions, water flows into the cell and the cell swells ( turgescence ). Osmotic shock or osmotic stress is physiologic dysfunction caused by a sudden change in the solute concentration around a cell , which causes a rapid change in the ...
The science of fluid balance across fluid compartments has practical application in intravenous therapy, where doctors and nurses must predict fluid shifts and decide which IV fluids to give (for example, isotonic versus hypotonic), how much to give, and how fast (volume or mass per minute or hour).
Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.
Solutions used for intravenous rehydration may be isotonic,hypertonic, or hypotonic depending on the cause of dehydration as well as the sodium concentration in the blood. [47] Pure water injected into the veins will cause the breakdown of red blood cells (erythrocytes). [48]
Hypertonic sport drinks contain a higher concentration of salt and sugar than the human body. Hypotonic sport drinks contain a lower concentration of salt and sugar than the human body. Most sports drinks are approximately isotonic, having between 4 and 5 heaped teaspoons of sugar per eight ounce (13 and 19 grams per 250ml) serving. [3]