The role of prostaglandins in the study of intestinal water and electrolyte transport in man.

The objective of this paper is to assess current knowledge on the pharmacologic and presumed physiologic effects of prostaglandins (PGs) on water and ion transport in the human intestine, from data in the literature and results of authors' studies. PGs, when administered intraluminally or intravenously, induce a profuse net secretion of water and ions into the jejunum or ileum; there is evidence that this effect is unrelated to changes in motility but due to a direct interaction of PGs with mucosal transport processes. Relations of PGs to cholera toxin, gastrointestinal hormones and adenylate cyclase-cyclic AMP system are reviewed. We propose to consider PGs as one of the most convenient model for studying intestinal secretion in vivo in man, in view of the rapid onset, magnitude, reversibility and reproducibility of their striking effect on mucosal transport.