pH-dependent fluoride transport in intestinal brush border membrane vesicles

Fluoride (F) absorption from the rat stomach and urinary bladder, hamster cheek pouch, and the renal tubules of several species are pH gradient-dependent. These observations led to the hypothesis that F crosses these epithelia in the form of the undissociated acid, HF. Several recent reports, however, have provided evidence that F absorption from the rat small intestine is insensitive to the lumenal pH. We report here our evidence that F uptake by rabbit intestinal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) occurred rapidly and with an overshoot only in the presence of an inward-directed proton gradient. In the absence of a proton gradient or in the presence of an outward-directed gradient, F uptake was slow and without an overshoot. In the presence of an inward-directed proton gradient, F uptake was partially inhibited by DIDS and DEP but not by diBAC. PCMBS inhibited F uptake by up to 83% in a dose-response manner. DiBAC appeared to reduce intravesicular pH slightly but the other reagents had no effect. When the uptake buffer contained chloride or nitrate, F uptake was partially inhibited compared to the mannitol or gluconate controls. It was concluded that F transport across the rabbit intestinal BBMV occurs via a carrier-mediated process which may involve cotransport of F with H⁺ or exchange of F with OH^-. The inhibitory effects of DIDS, DEP and PCMBS may occur by affecting this carrier-mediated transport. Copyright (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.