Intestinal absorption of arsenate in the chick.

The intestinal absorption of arsenate(As(V)) has been investigated in the chick by means of the in situ ligated duodenal loop technique. By this procedure, it was observed that arsenate is rapidly and essentially completely absorbed (80-95%) from the lumen at As(V) concentrations up to 5 mM, declining to about 50% absorption at 50 mM. Transfer from the intestinal lumen to the mucosal cells at low As(V) concentration (0.1 mM) is rapid, while transfer from the mucosal cells to the body occurs more slowly. At stable As(V) concentrations greater than 1 mM, fractional mucosal cell accumulation of As(V) remains constant, while fractional transfer to the body declines. However, total mucosal accumulation of As(V) and that transferred to the body increase in a linear logarithmic fashion from 0.05 to 5 mm As(V). The results indicate that As(V) readily penetrates both the mucosal and serosal surfaces of the epithelial membrane. Furthermore, arsenate and phosphate do not appear to share a common transport pathway in the duodenum and no evidence was obtained for any interaction between the two at this level. Vitamin D3 administration to rachitic chicks was effective in significantly elevating duodenal arsenate absorption, acting primarily to enhance serosal transport.