Vasoactive intestinal peptide stimulates alkali excretion in turtle urinary bladder.

The turtle urinary bladder possesses an active transport mechanism for the electrogenic secretion of alkali. This process is independent of exogenous Cl and Na, induced by cyclic AMP (cAMP), and potentiated in bladders from NaHCO3-loaded (alkalotic) turtles. In the present study, it is shown that the serosal addition of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) induces rapidly developing parallel increases in alkali secretion and in the short-circuiting current carried by this secretion. The VIP-induced increment in alkali secretion is greater in the presence than in the absence of an exogenously added phosphodiesterase inhibitor. Additions of a cAMP analog subsequent to the VIP-induced alkali secretion fail to induce any further increase in alkalinization. These results provide evidence for the action of VIP as a hormonal up regulator of alkali excretion in the turtle urinary bladder.