During acute respiratory acidosis increments in cisternal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) [HCO3-] approximate decrements in CSF [Cl-] with CSF [Na+] remaining unchanged; the mechanisms mediating this reciprocal anionic relationship are unclear. In the present study we investigated the effects of DIDS (4,4'-diisothiocyano-disulfonic stilbene), a known inorganic anion exchange blocker, on CSF ionic regulation in acute respiratory acidosis. In two groups of anesthetized paralyzed dogs we injected either mock CSF (group I, n = 8) or mock CSF containing DIDS (group II, n = 9) into the lateral cerebral ventricles. After 45 min, acute respiratory acidosis was induced for 6 h. During acute respiratory acidosis, CSF PCO2 rose in average by 38 mm Hg in both groups; increments in CSF [HCO3-], however, were significantly lower by about 2 mEq/L in DIDS-treated animals than in controls throughout the experimental period. Such differences were not due to changes in CSF lactate concentration which were similar in both groups. Furthermore, CSF [Na+] remained unchanged in both groups. Since disulfonic stilbene derivatives combine selectively with the carrier involved in anion transport and inhibit inorganic anion exchange, the data in the present study suggest that in the central nervous system a DIDS-inhibitable carrier is involved in the rise of CSF [HCO3-] observed during acute respiratory acidosis.