Glutamine transport in basolateral vesicles from dogs with acute respiratory acidosis

It has been shown that acute respiratory acidosis in dogs results in enhanced renal extraction of L-glutamine from plasma and increased ammonia excretion per nephron. To determine whether a component of the enhanced L-glutamine extraction results from increased transport of L-glutamine across the basolateral membrane into the renal proximal tubular cell, we measured Na+ gradient-dependent L-[3H]glutamine transport in proximal tubular basolateral membrane vesicles isolated from kidneys of normal dogs and from kidneys of dogs following 2 h of acute respiratory acidosis. The initial rate of Na+ gradient-dependent L-[3H] glutamine uptake (15 s) was increased significantly in basolateral membrane vesicles from the acidotic compared with normal dogs. Increased uptake could be measured under conditions in which changes in membrane potential resulting from fluxes of solute were minimized. We conclude that an adaptation occurs in the basolateral membrane of the renal proximal tubular cell during acute respiratory acidosis that allows increased transport of L-glutamine across the membrane into the proximal tubular cell. This adaptation may permit increased ammonia production per nephron.