It is generally assumed that the organic cation transport system in the renal proximal tubule is specific for organic cations and the transport of organic cations is not affected by organic anions. However, there are also data in the literature demonstrating that probenecid, a classical inhibitor of organic anion transport systems, inhibits the transport of an organic cation, cimetidine, in the renal proximal tubule. In this study we investigated the effects of probenecid and furosemide on the transport of N'-methylnicotinamide (NMN) the classical substrate of the organic cation transporter, in brush-border membrane vesicles prepared from rabbit renal cortex. In the presence of a pH gradient, both probenecid (10 mM) and furosemide reduced the initial uptake of NMN. Probenecid reduced the initial uptake of NMN to 12.1% of the control values (1.19 +/- 0.26 pmol/mg) and furosemide reduced the initial uptake of NMN to 39.2%. Probenecid (10 mM) also decreased the initial transport of NMN in the absence of a pH gradient. Inhibition of the transport of NMN by probenecid was concentration dependent, with the concentration of probenecid resulting in 50% inhibition of the transport of NMN equal to 2.31 +/- 1.18 mM in the presence of a pH gradient. Probenecid appeared to be a competitive inhibitor of NMN transport. The apparent Km (mean +/- SE) of NMN transport (2.01 +/- 0.78 mM) was increased to 18.7 +/- 10 mM (P less than 0.05) by probenecid (10 mM), whereas the Vmax was not changed (125 +/- 19.2 pmol.s-1.mg-1 vs. 186 +/- 94 pmol.s-1.mg-1, P greater than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)