Renal tubule acidification was studied in thyroparathyroidectomized rats which had the parathyroids reimplanted into cervical muscle tissue, by stopped-flow microperfusion using ion-exchange resin microelectrodes. Hypothyroid rats had decreased rates of proximal and late distal bicarbonate reabsorption. This reduction occurred in the absence of changes in pH gradients, and was due mostly to decreases in acidification half-times, that is, of the rate of bicarbonate exit from the tubule lumen. H+ back-flux from the lumen measured during luminal perfusion with solutions at pH 6 (below stationary pH) was decreased in proximal tubule of hypothyroid rats, showing that the acidification defect was not due to an increased H+ shunt across the epithelium. These data indicate that in hypothyroid rats the proximal tubule luminal density of Na+/H+ exchangers or their turnover is decreased in the absence of alterations in the driving force (H+ and Na+ gradients across the luminal membrane) for H+ secretion. The effect observed in distal tubule may be due to action on Na+/H+ exchangers that are present also on this site, or to an impairment of the action of other H+ transporters such as H(+)-ATPases, including the provision of energy for them. 9