Renal regulation of acid-base balance in the bullfrog

Abstract

Renal mechanisms for the maintenance of acid-base balance were studied in the normal bullfrog, during metabolic and respiratory acidosis, and after carbonic anhydrase inhibition. Following intravenous administration of 0.3–12 mmole HCl/ kg, as 0.1 n HCl, urinary pH (initially pH 6.3–7.7) did not change significantly. However, urinary ammonia excretion increased more than twofold, and within 3–5 days the cumulative increase was equivalent to the acid load given. Despite the increased ammonia excretion, chloride excretion did not increase after acid loading. In both normal and acidotic bullfrogs ammonia excretion was correlated with an increase in urinary pH. Respiratory acidosis in the small frog, Rana limnocharis, produced by exposure to 6.4% CO₂ in air, induced neither urinary acidification nor increased ammonia excretion; both urinary sodium and bicarbonate excretion increased. When renal carbonic anhydrase was inhibited by acetazoleamide injection, urine flow, sodium excretion, and bicarbonate excretion increased markedly, urinary pH increased slightly, and urinary ammonia excretion remained unchanged. These renal responses to acidosis are compared with those of the acidotic dog.