Urea Transport by Hepatocytes and Red Blood Cells of Selected Elasmobranch and Teleost Fishes

Although urea transport is receiving increased attention in mammalian systems, very little is known about urea transport in fish tissues. This study examined mechanisms of urea transport in red blood cells and hepatocytes from the lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula), Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina), turbot (Scopthalmus maximus), redfish (Scianops ocellatus), gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) and oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau). Urea appeared to be passively distributed in both tissues (i.e. there was no difference between plasma and tissue urea concentrations). Additionally, a number of in vitro experiments examining [14C]urea flux were performed. In red blood cells from all species except redfish, urea transport occurred via simple passive diffusion, but redfish red blood cells showed a small (25 %) phloretin-sensitive uptake component. In hepatocytes of the two elasmobranch species (dogfish and stingray), urea efflux was also by simple passive diffusion. However, urea efflux in toadfish (both O. beta and O. tau) hepatocytes exhibited a marked phloretin-sensitivity, and O. beta hepatocytes were used in further experiments with other inhibitors and treatments. Urea transport in O. beta had a relatively high specificity for urea compared with the urea analogues acetamide, thiourea and N-methylurea, was unaffected by phloridzin and extracellular Na+ removal, and was not inhibited by physiological levels of glucose (0.5­10 mmol l-1). A phloretin-sensitive glucose transport, that was not inhibited by physiological levels of urea, was discovered in O. beta hepatocytes. The results are discussed in terms of patterns of species distribution and similarities between urea and glucose transport.