Hexose accumulation by enterocytes from the jejunum and rectum of chickens adapted to high and low NaCl intake.

We have studied the effects of adaptation to low NaCl intakes on hexose transport using suspensions of enterocytes isolated from the jejunum and the rectum of the chicken. Animals (12-13 weeks old) were kept for 11 days on either a high-Na+ (HS) or a low Na+ (LS) diet. On day 11, mean serum aldosterone concentration was 46 pg/ml in HS birds and 236 pg/ml in LS birds. Results of transport studies show that: (1) adaptation to a LS diet reduces the cellular 3-oxymethyl-D-glucose cumulative capacity by 40% in the jejunum and is virtually abolished in the rectum; (2) LS adaptation reduces initial alpha-methyl-D-glucoside influx (1 mmol/l) by 22% in the jejunum and by 54% in the rectum; (3) the influx of the membrane potential sensor tetraphenyl-phosphonium (TPP+) in enterocytes strongly suggests that rectal cells of LS birds are significantly depolarized; (4) the presence of 0.1 mmol/l amiloride increases the capacity of the rectal cells of LS birds to establish a sugar gradient across the membrane; (5) incubation of enterocytes with cytochalasin B increases sugar cumulative capacity of the jejunal cells of both HS and LS birds, and has no effect on the rectal cells of LS birds. We conclude that the effects of LS adaptation on sugar transport may involve a reduction in the membrane electrical potential.