Maturation of jejunum and ileum in rats. Water and electrolyte transport during in vivo perfusion of hypertonic solutions.

During osmotic diarrhea, loss of water and electrolytes appears to be greater in infants than in adults. In 2-, 3-, and 7-wk-old rats, we studied net transport of H(2)O, Na, and Cl, during in vivo perfusion of segments of the jejunum and ileum, from solutions with osmolalities of 300, 375, 500, or 700 mosmol/kg. In the jejunal segments, from the hypertonic solutions net transport of H(2)O, Na, and Cl was into the lumen and greater in the 2- than 7-wk-old rats. In the ileal segments, transport of water was into the lumen, transport of Na was minimal and variable, whereas transport of Cl was usually out the lumen. In 3-wk-old rats, transport rates were intermediate between those in 2- and 7-wk-old rats. The calculated filtration coefficient (microliters of H(2)O transported per hour per unit osmolality gradient-lumen-serum-per gram dry weight) of water suggested that the resistance to water flow did not increase with rise in luminal hypertonicity in the jejunum of the 2- and 3-wk-old rats, whereas in jejunum of the 7-wk-old rats and in ileum of rats in all three ages, the resistance to water flow increased with the rise in luminal osmolality. The differences in the transport rates and the resistance to water flow, between segments of the 2-, 3-, and 7-wk-old rats, suggested a maturational phenomenon that appears to continue beyond the 3rd wk of life and could have been due to differences in some physical property of the mucosal membrane.