Dominant role for osmolality in the efficacy of glucose and glycine-containing oral rehydration solutions: studies in a rat model of secretory diarrhoea.

The effect of osmolality on the efficacy of oral rehydration solutions (ORS) and the contribution of the amino acid glycine to water absorption from ORS have been studied in an animal model of secretory diarrhoea. After exposure to pure cholera toxin, rat small intestine (excluding the duodenum) was perfused in situ with seven different ORS. All ORS were derived from a "basic" solution containing Na 50, K 25, Cl 75 and glucose 50 mmol/l to which 25 or 50 mmol/l of glycine, glucose, or mannitol was added. All ORS reversed water secretion to absorption, but maximum water absorption was obtained with the "basic" solution with an osmolality of 200 mOsm/kg. When the osmolality of the "basic" solution was raised to 225 and 250 mOsm/kg by adding mannitol, water absorption decreased. At each of these osmolalities, substitution of mannitol by glycine or glucose resulted in similar increases in water absorption, but all modifications compared unfavourably with the "basic" solution. Net sodium secretion occurred with all ORS tested, despite net water absorption. These findings in a perfusion model of rat small intestine suggest that osmolality is a key factor influencing the efficacy of ORS and that addition of a second substrate, such as glycine, has no beneficial effects. Our results suggest that there is a maximal rate for water absorption from the small intestine which is inversely related to the osmolality of the perfusate.