Glucose-coupled sodium absorption in the developing rat colon.

The developing mammalian colon is lined by villi and is capable of glucose and amino acid absorption at birth in the rat. Neither the point at which this capacity is lost nor the effect of the capacity for glucose transport on Na absorption has been studied. We have now applied a system for perfusion of the lumen of in vitro segments of colon from 20-day-old fetal rats, and pups between 6 and 8 days old, to measure Na transport and transepithelial potential difference (PD). The lumens of colons from animals at both ages were perfused with solutions containing glucose or mannitol and 22Na. Net Na transport was 164 +/- 37 mu eq X h-1 X g dry weight tissue perfused-1, as determined by the difference between lumen-to-bath and bath-to-lumen flux in fetal rat colons at day 20. Glucose increased the lumen-to-bath flux by 90 +/- 35 mu eq X h-1 X g-1. PD was immediately increased from -1.7 +/- 0.16 to -8.0 +/- 0.96 mV (lumen with respect to bath) by the addition of glucose, and the change in PD was inhibited by 10(-4) M phlorizin. The PD response to glucose was lost at day 2 of life, but the villus epithelium persisted. Amiloride, 10(-4) M, did not alter PD or Na transport at either age. We conclude that the fetal rat colon exhibits glucose-dependent Na flux at birth but that this property is lost by 6-8 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)