Acute and chronic effects of truncal vagotomy upon glucose absorption, water and electrolyte fluxes in the small intestine of the rabbit.

Acute truncal vagotomy causes increased net secretion of water, sodium and potassium from the proximal portion of the jejunum. This is presumed to occur because of the sudden loss of vagal cholinergic tone. Glucose absorption from the proximal part of the jejunum was not affected by acute vagotomy despite the large changes in net water and electrolyte fluxes. Adaptation after vagotomy and pyloroplasty was associated with a significant increase in jejunal absorptive capacity for glucose, water, sodium and potassium. These findings contribute another dimension to the understanding of the rapid rises in postprandial blood sugar observed in patients after vagotomy to help explain the abnormal glucose tolerance in the presence of glucose malabsorption. The increased jejunal absorptive capacity observed in the chronic vagotomy group is believed to occur in compensation for malabsorption resulting from rapid intestinal transit.