Rabbit renal brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were used to study amiloride transport across the luminal membrane of proximal tubular cells. An outwardly directed H+ gradient (pHi 6.0; pHo 7.5) stimulated 8 microM [14C]-amiloride uptake into BBMV and supported a transient "active" accumulation of substrate consistent with the presence of an amiloride-H+ exchange process. Uptake was inhibited, in the presence or absence of a pH gradient, by 1 mM unlabeled amiloride or 20 mM tetraethylammonium (TEA). Amiloride transport was not directly affected by the presence of 100 mM Na+ in the extravesicular medium, suggesting that Na-H exchange did not mediate amiloride flux. Amiloride transport was a saturable process with a maximal flux (under pH gradient conditions) of 3 nmol.mg-1.min-1 and an apparent Kt of 8 microM. TEA acted as a competitive inhibitor of this process with an apparent Ki of approximately 80 microM, similar to the Kt of TEA transport via the TEA-H+ exchanger. Likewise, amiloride acted as a competitive inhibitor of TEA uptake with an apparent Ki of approximately 11 microM. Preloading BBMV with 1-2 mM TEA stimulated the rate of amiloride uptake and supported a transient active accumulation of amiloride. We conclude that amiloride and TEA are transported by a common pathway in BBMV, which involves a carrier-mediated exchange with H+ and which may play a role in the tubular secretion of these compounds.