Effects of 16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 on ion transport by isolated rabbit gastric mucosa and rat intestinal epithelial cells

Rat enterocyte Na+ transport in vitro. Action of parathyroid hormone and calcitonin

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcitonin exert well known effects on the renal tubule which are thought to involve specific hormone receptors and adenyl cyclase. In the intestine, it is not clear whether the action of PTH and calcitonin is only indirect or also direct, and their mechanisms of action are much less well established. In the present study, possible direct effects of PTH and calcitonin on Na+ transport in isolated intestinal epithelial cells of rats were investigated. In the presence of bovine PTH (1.2 I.U/ml) in the incubation medium, the Na+ efflux rate constant (oKNa) of isolated enterocytes was significantly reduced when compared to that in control experiments with the hormone vehicle only. The mean depression of oKNa induced by bovine PTH was 26% as compared to the control (100%) and to that induced by ouabain (4.0 mM) which was 44%. No depressant effect of bovine PTH on oKNa was observed when the isolated enterocytes were incubated with ouabain (4.0 mM). Thus, bovine PTH appeared to inhibit the ouabain-sensitive Na+ pump. When incubating the isolated epithelial cells in an EGTA-containing CA2+-free medium, bovine PTH lost its capacity to inhibit oKNa. Thus, the presence of extracellular Ca2+ appeared necessary for the inhibitory effect of bovine PTH. In contrast to its effect on oKNa, bovine PTH induced no change in net Na+ uptake by isolated enterocytes. Moreover, no significant effect on enterocyte Na+ transport could be demonstrated for salmon or porcine calcitonin at two different concentrations in the incubation medium, Neither bovine PTH nor salmon calcitonin induced significant changes in enterocyte cyclic AMP or cycle GMP concentrations. It was concluded that bovine PTH, but not calcitonin, exerted a directed inhibitory effect on the ouabain-sensitive oKNa of isolated rat enterocytes. The effect of bovine PTH occurred without measurable activation of the cyclic nucleotide system but needed the presence of Ca2+ in the incubation medium to be operative.

Hyperosmotic xylitol, prostaglandins and gastric mucosal barrier

We have previously reported that hyperosmotic solutions of sodium chloride or of xylitol possess potent anti-ulcer activity and reduce gastric acidity in the rat. They also stimulate gastric prostaglandin (PG) biosynthesis, which may bear a causal relationship to the above effects. In the present investigation we studied the effect of intragastric hyperosmolarity on the transmucosal potential difference (PD) and on the permeability to H+ ions in the rat stomach. We also studied the effect of the prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors, indomethacin and flufenamic acid, on these parameters. Rat stomach was perfused in vivo, under urethane anesthesia, by xylitol solutions made up in 0.01 N HCl. While moderately hyperosmotic (13%) xylitol was without effect, the perfusion of intensely hyperosmotic xylitol (34.5%) resulted in a long lasting reduction of the transmucosal PD from a mean (+/- SEM) of -63 +/- 4 mV to a trough value of -40 +/- 3 mV. This depression of transmucosal PD was inhibited in a dose-related fashion by prior treatment with the PG-synthetase inhibitors. Acid recovery in the effluent was significantly reduced by the 34.5% xylitol solution and indomethacin pretreatment did not modify the effect of hyperosmotic xylitol. It is concluded that, although intensely hyperosmotic xylitol produces some of the characteristic effects of a barrier breaker, i.e. depression of transmucosal PD and acid back diffusion, these two phenomena probably involve different mechanisms, as indicated by their differential response to indomethacin.