Effect of cholera toxin on the human jejunum

In order to develop a model for secretory diarrhoea and to confirm the in vitro effects of cholera toxin in man in vivo the effect of intrajejunally administered cholera toxin was investigated in healthy volunteers. An intestinal perfusion technique with an occluding balloon proximal to the infusion site was used. The jejunum was perfused under steady state conditions with a plasma like electrolyte solution containing polyethylene glycol as a non-absorbable volume marker. After two control periods of one hour each, during which water was absorbed at a rate of 104 (14) (mean (SEM), n = 15) and 94 (15) ml/30 cm/h, respectively, three different doses of cholera toxin (6.25 micrograms, 12.5 micrograms, 25 micrograms) were administered by bolus into the lumen of the jejunum. Cholera toxin reduced absorption of water and electrolytes progressively over four hours and induced secretion in a dose dependent fashion. In the fourth hour net secretion amounted to 22 (23), 36 (24), and 88 (40) ml/30 cm/h (each n = five) with doses of 6.25, 12.5, and 25 micrograms cholera toxin, respectively. The movement of sodium, chloride, and bicarbonate paralleled water movement. Our results suggest that cholera toxin may serve as a secretory model in the human jejunum which might allow testing of new antisecretory agents.