Phosphate transport in the proximal convolution of the rat kidney. III. Effect of extracellular and intracellular pH.

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) transport was evaluated using the standing droplet method with simultaneous microperfusion of the peritubular capillaries. To evaluate rather small differences in Pi transport and to eliminate the influence of tubular heterogeneity, the technique of crossed paired samples was applied. 1. In chronic PTX rats changing the luminal or both luminal and peritubular pH by varying the HCO-3-concentration between 4 and 50 mmol/l at constant 5% CO2 had no influence on Pi transport. 2. If, however, bicarbonate was omitted from the perfusate and 2 mmol/l phosphate (pH 7.4) was the only buffer, Pi transport was decreased from the control. It was, however, further reduced when the perfusates were gased with 5% CO2 i.e. the starting pH was 5.6. 3. When the solutions contained HEPES buffer (25 mmol/l), Pi transport at pH 8 was much larger than at pH 6.0. 4. Raising the CO2 pressure from 35 to 70 mm Hg did not change the Pi transport when both perfusates had a HCO-3-concentration of 25 mmol/l. It reduced, however, the Pi transport, when the luminal perfusate had only 4 mmol/l bicarbonate. 5. Lowering the CO2 pressure from 38 to 7.6 mm Hg did hardly change the Pi transport when the luminal perfusate contained 4 mmol/l bicarbonate. It lowered, however, the Pi transport significantly when the luminal perfusate had 2k mmol/l bicarbonate. 6. Acetazolamide, 10-4M, lowered the Pi transport when the luminal perfusate contained 4 or 25 mmol/l bicarbonate. At 4 mmol/l luminal HCO-3, raising the pCO2 to 228 mmol/l depressed Pi transport even more. At 25 mmol/l luminal bicarbonate, raising the pCO2 from 38 to 114 mm Hg reversed the acetazolamide inhibition of the Pi transport almost completely. The data indicate that luminal acidosis and intracellular alkalosis inhibits the transtubular Pi transport. A shift of the intracellular pH to a more alkaline value seems to be responsible for the inhibition of Pi transport by acetazolamide, while omission of buffer from the perfusate inhibits Pi transport by effecting an acidic luminal pH.