Intestinal transport of water and electrolytes during extracellular volume expansion in dogs

The effects of extracellular fluid volume expansion on intestinal transport of salts and water were studied in dogs by perfusing loops of bowel in vivo. Saline loading caused depression of duodenal and jejunal absorption with net secretion of salt and water into the lumen. Studies of unidirectional transport of (22)Na(+) revealed that the negative net sodium flux was due primarily, and perhaps exclusively, to increased serosal to mucosal transport, for mucosal to serosal sodium transport was not changed during volume expansion. Net transport of water and potassium paralleled net sodium flux. Administration of deoxycorticosterone did not affect the intestinal response to saline loading. Hemodilution, accomplished by equilibrating the dogs' blood with a reservoir of saline, did not affect intestinal absorption, but isotonic, iso-oncotic expansion of the extracellular fluid produced by reinfusing the saline-blood mixture from the reservoir resulted in negative net transport of water, sodium, and potassium by the duodenum. It is suggested that the small bowel is capable of secreting salts and water through intercellular spaces, and that this process is stimulated by extracellular fluid volume expansion.