To clarify the cause of the stimulation of p-aminohippurate (PAH) accumulation in rat kidney cortical slices by barium, an experiment was carried out with basolateral membrane vesicles isolated from rat kidney cortex. The effect of barium on PAH uptake by the membrane vesicles was compared with that of verapamil which also stimulated PAH accumulation in the slices. The enzyme marker for basolateral membrane, (Na+ + K+)- ATPase, was enriched 15-fold and the brushborder enzyme marker, alkaline phosphatase, was 1.3-fold in our membrane preparation. Contamination in this preparation by lysosomes, mitochondria and cytosol was also low but that by endoplasmic reticulum was slightly high as judged by the enzyme markers. PAH uptake by the membrane vesicles possessed the usual characteristics, i.e., sodium-dependence and probenecid-sensitivity. PAH uptake by the membrane vesicles was enhanced by barium, but not by verapamil. On the other hand, barium did not affect tetraethylammonium (TEA) uptake by the vesicles, and verapamil strongly inhibited it. Manganese also stimulated PAH uptake to the same extent as did barium, but calcium and strontium did not affect the uptake. Barium did not act on sodium transport in the membrane vesicles. An 'anion-sensitively transported lipophilic cation', triphenylmethylphosphonium iodide (TPMP), uptake was depressed by barium. These results suggest that barium stimulates selectively PAH uptake in basolateral membrane vesicles. Its stimulatory action may contribute at least partly to an increase in PAH accumulation in rat kidney cortical slices by this ion and may prove useful in an analysis of the mechanism of PAH transport system in renal basolateral membranes.