“…Although some acid-base enthusiasts enjoy consideration of the "strong ion difference" to reconcile data, the normal kidney's remarkable response to subtle differences in pH or, more likely, intracellular CO 2 does not take these differences into account. Although the exact mechanisms used to sense pH are still not yet understood, it is well known that the kidney plays a dominant role in the regulation of the acid-base balance (47). Indeed, with acidosis, a complex intracellular cascade ensues, including activation of the electroneutral sodiumcoupled amino acid transporter for glutamine, an increase in glutamine metabolism and ammoniagenesis, as well as an increase in the expression of the sodium hydrogen antiporter (48,49).…”