Lack of intestinal transport of [3H]-demethylphalloin: comparative studies with phallotoxins and bile acids on isolated small intestinal cells and ileal brush border membrane vesicles.

Several earlier studies suggested that the uptake of phallotoxins by liver cells is a carrier mediated process using a transport system normally handling bile acids (see Frimmer 1982). In this study we have shown whether ileal cells, well known to transport bile acids too, are able to take up phallotoxins. Isolated epithelial cells prepared from guinea pig ileum accumulated [14C]-cholate, whereas [3H]-demethylphalloin ([3H]-DMP) was not taken up. The same observation was made with isolated jejunal cells but the uptake of [14C]-cholate was much slower. [3H]-DMP, however, was partly bound to intestinal cells. This process was not inhibited by cholate, iodipamide, oligomycin and carbonylcyano-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), compounds known to decrease the uptake of phallotoxins into liver cells. Substituting Na+ for choline+ and also Cl- for SCN- did not influence the binding of [3H]-DMP. Frozen intestinal cells from the guinea pig bound two time more [3H]-DMP after thawing compared with intact cells. Supplementary uptake experiments on isolated brush border membrane vesicles from rat ileum revealed that phalloidin does not inhibit taurocholate uptake and that taurocholate does not interfere with [3H]-DMP binding. The results suggest that [3H]-demethylphalloin is not recognized by the bile acid carrier of the guinea pig and the rat ileum. It is concluded that the transport system for bile acids present in ileal cell is different from that of liver cells.