The short-circuited everted sac of rat colon mucosa

[Comparison of hydroelectrolytic exchange characterized by calculation of saturable fluxes at three levels of the rat intestine]

Using the everted sac technique, which responded, as expected, to VIP by an increase of the secretion and to glucose by an increase of the absorption, we compared the water and electrolyte movements in the jejunum, ileum and colon in rats. Identical iso-osmolar test-solutions containing increasing NaCl concentrations, placed on the serosal and mucosal sides, allowed us to quantify fluxes in the absence of initial gradient. The measured net Na and Cl fluxes were dissociated into their two components, a passive flux from serosa to mucosa and a saturable flux from mucosa to serosa. The parameters of the saturable transport, calculated for each of the intestinal parts, showed the highest J max for the ileum (58.5 microEq.g-1.h-1 for Na and 52.8 microEq.g-1.h-1 for Cl) and the lowest Km for the colon that had the highest affinity for sodium and chloride (Km 11.1 mM for Na and 7.8 mM for Cl). These data confirm the functional difference between the three intestinal parts, with an active absorption of Na and active secretion of Cl in the jejunum, an apparent coupled Na and Cl absorption in the ileum and an active absorption with high affinity for both Na and Cl in the colon.

Inhibition of neuronally mediated secretion in rat colonic mucosa by prostaglandin D2

The effect of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) on ion transport across the mucosa of the descending colon was studied in rats. PGD2 dose-dependently decreased baseline short-circuit current of mucosa-submucosal preparations mounted either in the Ussing chamber or mounted as an everted sac. However, with the everted sac technique, the tissue was about 1000 times more sensitive to PGD2. Concomitant with the decrease in short-circuit current, PGD2 increased the mucosal-to-serosal fluxes of sodium and chloride and decreased the serosal-to-mucosal flux of chloride. PGD2 inhibited the secretory action of the PGI2 analogue iloprost, PGD2 alpha, and neurotensin. The action of these secretagogues was dependent on the presence of the submucosal plexus. In contrast, PGD2 had no effect on the increase in short-circuit current caused by PGD2, substance P, or serotonin, the actions of which were not dependent on the presence of the submucosal plexus. The results indicate that the action site of the antisecretory mechanism of PGD2 is localized in the secretomotor neurons.

Bicarbonate secretion in rat distal colon in vitro: a measurement technique

To study HCO3- secretion in rat distal colon, we utilized a technique that permits control of electrical and chemical transepithelial gradients. With symmetrical solutions (pH 7.4, [HCO3-] 25 mM, and CO2 tension 40 mmHg) bathing both tissue surfaces and under short-circuit conditions, HCO3- secretion remained stable for greater than 4 h at 1 mueq. h-1.cm-2. As the mucosal solution was alkalinized, the serosal solution was acidified at 3.1 mueq.h-1.cm-2. Ninety-four percent of serosal acidification was accounted for by the rate of metabolic lactic acid generation and transepithelial HCO3- secretion. Clamping transepithelial voltage reversibly affected net HCO3- secretion, and a linear relationship existed between clamped mucosal voltage and net HCO3- flux (r = 0.99); mucosal voltage of -68 mV completely inhibited net secretion. The apparent permeability coefficient of the colon to HCO3- is 2.8 X 10(-6) cm/s. One millimolar ouabain completely inhibited net HCO3- secretion. Acetazolamide (10(-4) M) inhibited secretion by approximately 50%, whereas a 10(-3) M concentration inhibited secretion by 90%. These data demonstrate that net colonic HCO3- secretion can be measured without imposed electrical and chemical gradients and that this flux is voltage sensitive and depends on carbonic anhydrase and Na+-K+-ATPase activities.

Colonic absorption of inorganic ions and volatile fatty acids in the rabbit

Net fluxes of water, Na+, K+, Cl-, HCO3- and volatile fatty acids (VFA) were investigated in three different segments of rabbit colon. Two opposite phenomena occurred: secretion of water and inorganic ions in the oral part of the colon and absorption in the remaining colon; VFA were always absorbed. The movement of cations was closely correlated with those of VFA and Cl-. Results are consistent with the presence of exchange: Na+/H+, K+/H+, in the colon brush border membrane. In fact net absorption of cations and VFA seems linked to the availability of protons. In the absence of net cation transport an additional source of protons may be provided by hydration of luminal CO2. So VFA could enter mucosa by passive diffusion as the undissociated acids.

Ion fluxes and electrical characteristics of the short-circuited rat colon in vitro

The unidirectional fluxes of sodium and chloride across stripped rat colon mucosa were measured and compared with the electrical characteristics of the tissue under voltage-clamped conditions. The relationship between the serosal-mucosal fluxes of the two ions and an imposed potential revealed that the serosal-mucosal flux of sodium was entirely paracellular, whereas there was also a transcellular component of the corresponding chloride flux. In the absence of sodium, the short-circuit current and net chloride flux were abolished; in the absence of chloride, the net sodium flux was reduced but not abolished, and the short-circuit current was unchanged. From an analysis of the effects of the inhibitors, amiloride, theophylline, acetazolamide, furosemide and piretanide, a plausible model was developed to explain the characteristics of these transports. It was proposed that both membranes possess Cl-/HCO-3 antiports, though their sensitivities to inhibitors were different. There is also a Na+/Cl- symport and an electrogenic sodium entry mechanism in the brushborder membrane.

The electrical potential difference, short circuit current and Na+ and Cl- transport across different segments of sheep colon

1. The electrical potential difference (pd) and short circuit current (Isc) across the sheep colon descendens was significantly higher than across the sheep colon ascendens. 2. The ion equivalent of the Isc and the net Na+ transport from the mucosal (m) to the serosal (s) side of the short-circuited sheep colon descendens were identical, while the net Na+ transport across the colon ascendens exceeded the ion equivalent of the Isc. 3. There was a net m-s Cl- transport across both short-circuited colon segments, indicating that Cl-, like Na+, is absorbed by active transport. 4. The results suggest that active Na+ transport across the sheep colon descendens occurs entirely by an electrogenic mechanism, whereas active Na+ transport across the sheep colon descendens occurs entirely by an electrogenic mechanism, whereas active Na+ transport across sheep colon ascendens probably occurs by both an electrogenic and an electrically silent mechanism.