Effect of acetazolamide on intracellular pH and bicarbonate transport in bovine corneal endothelium.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors are known to inhibit fluid transport by the corneal endothelium. This phenomenon could be due to a combination of effects involving disruption of intracellular pH regulation, reduced gradients for diffusion of CO2, substrate limitation to HCO3- transport systems or direct inhibition of membrane HCO3- transport. We examined the effects of the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, Acetazolamide (ACTZ), on intracellular pH (pHi) and HCO3- transport in cultured bovine corneal endothelium. The pHi was measured utilizing the pH sensitive fluorescent dye, BCECF. Na+:HCO3- cotransport and Cl-/HCO3- exchange activities were studied by measuring the HCO3(-)-dependent flux of Na+ and Cl-, respectively. Na+ and Cl- fluxes were measured using the ion-sensitive dyes SBFI and SPQ, respectively. Application of 100 or 500 microM ACTZ to cells perfused under HCO3(-)-rich conditions, significantly reduced steady-state pHi by 0.06 +/- 0.01 (n = 14, P < 0.05). ACTZ also eliminated rapid pHi transients due to CO2 diffusion, significantly slowed the initial rate of pHi changes (50 +/- 10% of control, n = 7, P < 0.05) secondary to Na+:HCO3- cotransport or Cl-/HCO3- exchange (37 +/- 1% of control, P < 0.05, n = 7). However, the flux of the cotransported ions, Na+ and Cl-, and the steady-state levels of these ions were not affected by ACTZ. We conclude that the drop in steady-state pHi, the elimination of CO2 induced pHi transients and the slowed pHi changes secondary to HCO3- transport were due to inhibition of cytosolic carbonic anhydrase by ACTZ, i.e. slowing the equilibrium among CO2, HCO3- and H+ and not due to limitation of substrate availability or direct inhibition of the membrane transporters.