Organic acid (or anion) and organic base (or cation) transport by renal tubules of nonmammalian vertebrates

Organic acids (or anions) and organic bases (or cations) are transported by the renal tubules of nonmammalian vertebrates, but until recently the details of the transport processes have been poorly studied. Work with isolated perfused and nonperfused renal tubules and with membrane vesicles has now begun to supply information on the transepithelial transport processes and the transport steps at the individual cell membranes. The current information is reviewed for organic acids (or anions) as a general group, for urate (which generally appears to be transported by a separate system from that for other organic anions), and for organic bases (or cations) as a general group. Tentative cellular models for the transepithelial transport of each of these general categories of compounds are suggested.