Calcitriol-dependent, paracellular sodium transport in the embryonic chick intestine

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (calcitriol), or vitamin D3 itself, when added to cultures of 20-day-old embryonic chick small intestine, stimulated sodium (Na+) uptake from the mucosal surface. The calcitriol-mediated increase in Na+ uptake appeared to be related to increased tight-junctional or paracellular permeability. Support for this conclusion was, first, that the uptake of other ions, potassium (K+) and rubidium (Rb+), with tight-junctional permeabilities greater than Na+, was also stimulated by calcitriol, and second, perturbation of cellular Na+ and K+ fluxes by inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase activity did not affect calcitriol-stimulated Na+, K+, or Rb+ transport. Calcitriol stimulation of Na+ fluxes across the brush border as an alternate possibility is unlikely for the following reason: the calcium ionophore A23187, while mimicking the stimulatory action of calcitriol on calcium (Ca2+) uptake, reduced epithelial Na+ uptake. It is therefore suggested that calcitriol, by virtue of its effect on Ca2+ transport, reduces rather than stimulates cellular Na+ uptake.