Amiloride inhibition of proximal tubular acidification

In brush border membrane vesicles prepared from mammalian kidney cortex, amiloride is a potent inhibitor of the Na+/H+ exchanger. In the present study, in vivo microperfusion was used to examine the effect of luminal amiloride on transport in the rat superficial proximal convoluted tubule. At a perfusion rate of 14 nl/min, addition of 10(-3) M amiloride to artificial early proximal tubular fluid reduced bicarbonate absorption from 103 +/- 7 to 81 +/- 5 pmol mm-1 X min-1 and volume absorption from 2.03 +/- 0.15 to 1.57 +/- 0.06 nl X mm-1 X min-1. Glucose efflux was unchanged, excluding nonspecific inhibition of Na+-K+-ATPase. Luminal amiloride at 10(-4) M did not affect bicarbonate absorption or volume absorption. At a perfusion rate of 41 nl/min, 10(-3) M amiloride reduced bicarbonate absorption from 179 +/- 8 to 114 +/- 9 pmol X mm-1 X min-1, a significantly greater inhibition than that seen in tubules perfused at 14 nl/min. Amiloride at 10(-3) M had no significant effect on sodium chloride absorption as measured by volume flux from an artificial late proximal tubular fluid. The results show that luminal amiloride specifically inhibits proximal acidification and demonstrate involvement of the Na+/H+ antiporter in proximal tubular acidification. However, the inhibition of acidification is less than the inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange predicted by vesicle studies.