Effects of acetazolamide and changes of acid-base balance on the content of cyclic nucleotides in the rat kidney.

Changes in tissue levels of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cGMP) in the rat kidney in response to acid-base changes and administration of acetazolamide were measured. cAMP was determined according to the method described by Gilman and cGMP by radioimmunoassay. 1 mg/kg acetazolamide increased bicarbonate excretion 100-fold over the control values to 2.52 +/- 0.5 mEq/min (mean +/- SEM; n = 6), but did not influence cGMP and cAMP tissue content. 10 and 100 mg/kg acetazolamide increased cGMP tissue levels to 0.277 +/- 0.048 and 0.482 +/- 0.07 pmol/mg dry weight in comparison to 0.192 +/- 0.04 in the controls, whereas no changes in cAMP levels occurred. Chronic as well as acute metabolic alkalosis induced an increase of cGMP levels (0.26 +/- 0.03 and 0.29 +/- 0.06 pmol/mg), whereas chronic metabolic and acute respiratory acidosis lowered cGMP levels to 0.14 +/- 0.02 and 0.13 +/- 0.02 pmol/mg. cAMP tissue levels were not affected by changes in acid-base balance. The data could suggest that cGMP participates in the regulation of acid-base balance and renal effects of acetazolamide.