Fasting alters basal and stimulated ion transport in piglet jejunum

Three-week-old piglets were used to study the effects of short-term fasting on jejunal ion transport. A 48-h fast significantly reduced mucosal weight, villus height, and crypt depth. Fasting increased basal short-circuit current (Isc), which reflects active ion transport, and total tissue conductance (Gt) of muscle-stripped jejunal sheets mounted in Ussing chambers. Increases in Isc evoked by carbachol, serotonin, histamine, prostaglandin E2, or Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin were significantly greater in the fasted piglets. Isc responses to mucosal D-glucose were also enhanced by the fast. Under basal conditions, unidirectional and net fluxes of Na+ and Cl-, as well as serosal-to-mucosal inulin fluxes, were significantly increased in fasted piglets. In fed piglets, carbachol increased net Cl- secretion by stimulating serosal-to-mucosal Cl- flux; Gt was not affected. In fasted piglets, carbachol increased net Cl- secretion by inhibiting mucosal-to-serosal fluxes with no effect on serosal-to-mucosal fluxes. In addition, carbachol significantly inhibited mucosal-to-serosal Na+ fluxes and reduced Gt in this group. Thus a 48-h fast increased unidirectional and net ion fluxes in piglet jejunum and enhanced ion transport responses to secretory agonists. The mechanism by which carbachol stimulated net Cl- secretion was also altered by the fast. These results suggest that the absence of luminal nutrition changes the ion transport characteristics of the jejunal epithelium.