Nerve-mediated effect of ethanol on sodium and fluid transport in the jejunum of the rat.
The hypothesis tested in this study is whether a potential harmful substance such as ethanol causes secretion in the small intestine and, if so, whether the secretion is mediated via intestinal nerve reflexes or a direct effect on the epithelium. The jejunum of anaesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats was perfused in vivo with a modified Krebs-Henseleit solution. Three per cent ethanol had no significant effect, whereas 8% ethanol in the perfusate elicited a net secretion of fluid and sodium in the intestine. This secretion was reversed by ganglionic blockade with hexamethonium (10 mg/kg intravenously). The ethanol absorption from the perfusate, on the other hand, was not affected by the ganglionic blockade. We concluded that ethanol dose-dependently caused a nerve-mediated secretion of sodium and fluid in the rat small intestine. Ethanol was probably absorbed by diffusion.
Dept. of Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Hallbäck
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M
Eriksson
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Sjöqvist
D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D007419:Intestinal Secretions / Q000187:drug effects; D007583:Jejunum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation*; D008297:Male; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance / Q000187:drug effects*
D000431:Ethanol