Chronic aldosterone therapy and the control of transepithelial transport of ions and water by the colon and coprodeum of the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) in vivo.

White Leghorn laying hens were maintained on commercial poultry food (medium-Na+ diet) and fresh water. Birds maintained on a high-Na+ diet received, in addition, 10 ml 9% (w/v) NaCl/kg by stomach load for 2 days before the perfusion experiments. Some birds on each dietary Na+ level also received aldosterone injections (60 micrograms/kg per day, i.m.) for 2 days before the perfusion experiments. The lumen of the coprodeum and colon of anaesthetized birds was perfused with solutions resembling ureteral urine, with systematically varied Na+, NH4+, Cl- and osmotic concentrations. Aldosterone enhanced net Na+ absorption (JNa) and associated net Cl- absorption and K+ secretion, and induced (in birds on medium- but not on high-Na+ diets) the appearance of a saturable JNa component dependent on the luminal concentration of Na+. Aldosterone enhanced net absorption of NH4+ and decreased the transmural potential difference in birds on a high-Na+ diet only; water and phosphate fluxes were not affected. Disparities between aldosterone- and Na+-depletion-induced effects suggested that one or more factors (in addition to aldosterone) are involved in the normal mediation of the responses of the lower intestine of the domestic fowl to varied Na+ intake.