Jejunal adenylate cyclase activity in human subjects during viral gastroenteritis.

The histopathological changes that occur in the jejunal mucosa of humans infected with the Norwalk or Hawaii agent of acute infectious nonbacterial gastroenteritis ("viral" gastroenteritis) have ben well characterized. The pathogenesis of diarrhea in this syndrome remains unknown; however, recent reports have suggested a possible role for the adenylate cyclase system. In this combined paper, two groups of investigators working independently and employing slightly different techniques report that: (1) there is marked interindividual variation in the apparent specific activity of adenylate cyclase in human jejunal biopsy tissue; (2) such variation can be minimized by expressing enzyme activity as a fraction of maximal that can be stimulated by 10(-2) M sodium fluoride; and (3) adenylate cyclase activity in jejunal mucosa is not increased during diarrhea or illness in human viral gastroenteritis, therefore suggesting no role for the adenylate cyclase system in the pathogenesis of diarrhea in this common clinical entity.