Transport of butyric acid in vascularly perfused anuran small intestine: importance of pH and anion transport.

Butyric acid transport was studied in the isolated, vascularly perfused frog small intestine. At luminal butyric acid concentrations of 5-50 mM, absorption was a nonlinear function of the luminal concentration, whereas the relationship of absorption to concentration remained linear at 0-1,000 microM. The most important factor regulating the rate and direction of butyric acid transport was the pH. We used unidirectional flux analysis to determine net transport across the epithelium while the pH of the luminal or vascular compartments was changed. We found a four- to fivefold decrease in butyric acid transport into the portal circulation as the lumen pH was increased from 6.0 to 8.0. The pH of the vascular perfusate influenced the vascular-to-lumen transport of butyric acid in the same proportions. The second important regulatory factor of butyric acid transport was the 4,4'-diisothiocyananostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS)-sensitive anion transport protein. DIDS added to the lumen at 10(-6) M decreased butyric acid transport by approximately 40% at pH 7.4. DIDS also inhibited butyric acid transport when added to the vascular perfusate or when transport was measured in a vascular-to-lumen direction. We suggest that, at the relatively low pH of the proximal small intestine, butyric acid becomes protonated and lipophilic and is mainly transported directly through the cell membrane. At the more alkaline pH of the distal small intestine butyric acid is in the ionized form and transport by the DIDS-sensitive anion transport protein may predominate.