Effects of hydrochloric acid on duodenal and jejunal mucosal permeability in the rat.

The effects of various concentrations of hydrochloric acid (1, 5, 10, and 100 mM) on mucosal permeability and acid disappearance (H+-dis) in duodenum and jejunum were studied in anesthetized rats. Mucosal permeability was assessed by measuring blood-to-lumen clearance of 51Cr-labeled EDTA (ED-Cl). Luminal alkalinization (LA) and H+-dis were determined by backtitration. ED-Cl was stable during saline perfusion and was not affected by changes in intestinal blood flow. Basal ED-Cl was four times higher in duodenum than in jejunum. Mucosal permeability of both duodenum and jejunum was not altered by 1 mM HCl. However, 5 mM HCl induced a 3.3-fold increase (P less than 0.001) in ED-Cl in jejunum but was without effect in duodenum. A 15-fold increase in ED-Cl was obtained in jejunum and a doubling (P less than 0.001) in ED-Cl was observed in duodenum when HCl concentration was increased to 10 mM HCl. One hundred millimolar HCl induced large increases of ED-Cl in both segments. The twofold increase of ED-Cl in response to 10 mM HCl in duodenum was completely reversible, whereas ED-Cl in jejunum was three to four times higher (P less than 0.05) than preacid levels 60 min after cessation of acid perfusion. The net increase in jejunal ED-Cl obtained after acid exposure was closely correlated (r = 0.99) with the net increase in LA, indicating leakage of interstitial fluid into the luminal solution. LA (saline perfusion) and H+-dis (HCl perfusion) were significantly higher in duodenum than in jejunum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)