A tracer method to study unidirectional fluxes of lithium. Application to frog skin.

We describe a new tracer method to measure unidirectional fluxes of Li+ despite the lack of any utilizable radioisotope of lithium. This method uses the purified stable isotopes, 6Li and 7Li, detected with an ion-probe microanalyser. The accuracy is comparable to that obtained for other ions (e.g., Na+) with radiotracers. The method has been applied to frog skin with both faces bathed in a 20% lithium/80% sodium medium. Sodium and lithium unidirectional fluxes have been measured simultaneously. The results are consistent with lithium being actively pumped, the outflux of lithium being, however, much larger than that of sodium.