Intestinal absorption studies with glycyl-proline, glycine and ethanol in rats infected with Eimeria nieschulzi

The absorption of glycyl-proline, glycine, and ethanol through the intestinal wall was studied in vitro by an everted sac technique in rats infected with the coccidial parasite Eimeria nieschulzi which causes damage and atrophy to the intestinal villi. The absorption of the dipeptide and of the amino-acid was reduced through tissue from infected animals but the transport of ethanol was similar in both infected and uninfected rats. The replacement of sodium by potassium in the mucosal bathing fluid as well as the separate addition of the metabolic inhibitors, potassium cyanide and dinitrophenol, reduced the amount of amino-acids transferred in both the infected and uninfected tissue in a similar proportion. The results support the conclusion that infection by the parasite affects several different elements of transport across the ileal wall but does not selectively reduce any single one.