Troglitazone induces a cellular acidosis by inhibiting acid extrusion in cultured rat mesangial cells

Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, Shreveport, Louisiana 71130 We studied the effect of troglitazone on cellular acid-base balance and alanine formation in isolated rat mesangial cells. Mesangial cells were grown to confluency in RPMI 1640 media on 30-mm chambers used to monitor both cellular pH using the pH-sensitive dye 2'7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein and metabolic acid production as well as glutamine metabolism. Troglitazone (10 µM) induced a spontaneous cellular acidosis (6.95 ± 0.02 vs. 7.47 ± 0.04, respectively; P