Sucrose absorption by the rat small intestine in vivo and in vitro

1. The absorption of glucose and fructose derived from sucrose has been studied using in vitro and in vivo loops of the rat jejunum.2. At low sucrose concentrations (1 and 10 mM) glucose appeared in the serosal compartment of the in vitro preparation at a faster rate than fructose, but at high sucrose concentrations (50 and 100 mM) the rates of serosal transfer of the two sugars were similar. Glucose and fructose appeared in the mucosal compartment, with the rate of fructose appearance exceeding that of glucose, at all the sucrose concentrations studied.3. Phlorizin (5 x 10(-5)M) added to the mucosal medium of the in vitro preparation abolished the serosal transfer of glucose derived from 50 mM sucrose, and reduced that of fructose by 75%.4. In the absence of sodium ions, the in vitro preparation failed to transfer glucose and fructose derived from 50 mM sucrose, into the serosal compartment.5. Glucose was actively accumulated in the whole gut wall of the in vivo preparation to concentrations higher than those in the plasma at 50 and 100 mM, but not at 10 mM sucrose concentrations. Fructose was also actively accumulated to about half the extent of glucose, but reached tissue concentrations greater than those in the plasma, at each sucrose concentration.6. The whole wall concentrations of glucose and fructose derived from sucrose added to the lumen continued to rise when the blood supply to the in vivo preparation was terminated.7. No increase in the in vivo whole wall concentrations of glucose and fructose were detected when sucrose was added to the lumen together with concentrations of glucose sufficient to saturate the monosaccharide transport systems.8. The results favour the view that disaccharide hydrolysis and resulting hexose transfer are sequential, separate events.