Abstract. Thiazides have been used in patients with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) to decrease urine volume, but the mechanism by which it produces the paradoxic antidiuretic effect remains unclear. Previous studies have reported that downregulation of aquaporin-2 (AQP2) is important for the development of lithium-induced (Li-induced) polyuria and that hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) increases renal papillary osmolality and Na ϩ concentration in Brattleboro rats. For elucidating the molecular basis of the antidiuretic action of HCTZ in diabetes insipidus, whether administration of HCTZ may affect the expression of AQP2 and major renal Na ϩ transporters in Li-induced NDI rats was investigated, using semiquantitative immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. After feeding male Sprague-Dawley rats Li chloride-containing rat diet for 4 wk, HCTZ or vehicle was infused subcutaneously via osmotic minipump. Urine output was significantly decreased by HCTZ treatment, whereas it was not changed in vehicle-treated rats. Urine osmolality was also higher in HCTZ-treated rats than in vehicle-treated rats. Semiquantitative immunoblotting using whole-kidney homogenates revealed that HCTZ treatment caused a significant partial recovery in AQP2 abundance from Li-induced downregulation. AQP2 immunohistochemistry showed compatible findings with the immunoblot results in both cortex and medulla. The abundances of thiazide-sensitive NaCl co-transporter and ␣-epithelial sodium channel were increased by HCTZ treatment. Notably, HCTZ treatment induced a shift in molecular weight of ␥-epithelial sodium channel from 85 to 70 kD, consistent with previously demonstrated aldosterone stimulation. The upregulation of AQP2 and distal renal Na ϩ transporters in response to HCTZ treatment may account for the antidiuretic action of HCTZ in NDI.In nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), the kidney is unable to concentrate urine despite normal or elevated concentrations of the antidiuretic hormone arginine vasopressin. The acquired form of NDI is much more common than the congenital form, which has mutations either in the vasopressin V 2 receptor gene or in the aquaporin-2 (AQP2) gene (1). Lithium (Li) treatment (2), hypokalemia (3), and ureteral obstruction (4) are three common causes of acquired NDI, and all have been associated with downregulation of AQP2 (2-4).One of the recommended regimens for the treatment of NDI is low-sodium diet coupled with thiazides, although amiloride is preferably used to mitigate Li-induced polyuria in humans because of its blunting the inhibitory effect of Li on water transport in the collecting duct (5). Thiazide diuretics paradoxically decrease urine volume and increase urine osmolality presumably by producing a mild sodium depletion (6). The widely accepted hypothesis suggests that thiazide-induced sodium depletion causes a reduction in distal delivery associated with enhanced fractional water reabsorption in the collecting duct (6,7). However, the mechanism by which thiazide diuretics produce their paradoxic antidi...