The nature of the in vivo sodium and chloride uptake mechanisms through the epithelium against sodium and of bicarbonate against chloride.

The Chilean frog, Calyptocephallela gayi, placed in dilute NaCl solutions may pump Na(+) and Cl(-) at very different rates depending on the kind of bath solutions in which it was preadapted. Furthermore, Na(+) and Cl(-) may be absorbed from solutions in which the accompanying coion, such as sulfate and choline, respectively, is impermeant. In all these cases it is obligatory to postulate the existence of two ionic exchange mechanisms, Cl(-) and Na(+), being exchanged against endogenous anions and cations, respectively. It has been determined that Na(+) is exchanged against endogenous H(+) and that Cl(-) is exchanged against HCO(3) (-). In animals pumping Na(+) and Cl(-) from dilute NaCl solutions Na(+) or Cl(-) uptake may be selectively inhibited, while the flux of the accompanying ion remains unchanged. This is considered to be an additional proof that both Na(+) and Cl(-) fluxes are always independent. The role of the ionic exchange mechanisms in the direct regulation of the Na(+) and Cl(-) levels in the internal medium is discussed as well as their relationship in the regulation of the acid-base equilibrium; other physioecological considerations have been treated.