Aprotinin, a reversible inhibitor, and D-Phe-Phe-Arg-chloromethyl ketone (DPPA), an irreversible inhibitor of mammalian glandular kallikreins, decreased short-circuit current (SCC) in the isolated toad urinary bladder. Both were more potent and rapidly acting on the mucosal than serosal surface. The maximal inhibition in basal SCC was 29% for aprotinin and 41% for DPPA at concentrations of 7.0 X 10(-6) and 1.0 X 10(-5) M, respectively. SCC inhibition with mucosal aprotinin was reversed by rinsing, whereas inhibition with mucosal DPPA was not reversible. The presence of either agent in the mucosal bath inhibited the SCC increase to serosal vasopressin, but neither modified this response when present in the serosal bath. Neither agent affected basal or vasopressin-stimulated osmotic water permeability. Aprotinin did not prevent aldosterone-induced increases in SCC. Soybean trypsin inhibitor, an inhibitor of plasma but not glandular kallikrein, did not affect SCC. We postulate that these inhibitors of mammalian glandular kallikreins act upon some accessible serine proteinase(s) to reduce short-circuit current. This protein(s) might be an amphibian homologue of mammalian renal kallikrein.