Skip to main content
PMC home page
Gut logoLink to Gut
. 1971 Oct;12(10):811–818. doi: 10.1136/gut.12.10.811

Potassium transport in the human small bowel

L A Turnberg
PMCID: PMC1411880  PMID: 5123262

Abstract

Perfusion experiments in the small intestine of normal subjects and in the ileum of patients with ileostomies demonstrated that the distribution of potassium across the mucosa was compatible with a passive process for transport. In the jejunum potassium transport was shown to be markedly influenced by solvent drag and the jejunal mucosa appears to be more permeable to potassium than to sodium. This permeability was apparently unaffected by calcium in the lumen in concentrations of between 1·15 and 7·25 m-equiv/1. In the ileum potassium transport was influenced by changes in luminal sodium concentration and it is suggested that this is a passive consequence of the change in electrical potential which the change in sodium concentration induces. The electrical potential is thought to be a sodium diffusion potential. All the evidence thus points to a purely passive behaviour of the small intestine towards potassium.

Full text

PDF
811

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barnaby C. F., Edmonds C. J. Use of a miniature GM counter and a whole body counter in the study of potassium transport by the colon of normal, sodium-depleted and adrenalectomized rats in vivo. J Physiol. 1969 Dec;205(3):647–665. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CURRAN P. F., GILL J. R., Jr The effect of calcium on sodium transport by frog skin. J Gen Physiol. 1962 Mar;45:625–641. doi: 10.1085/jgp.45.4.625. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cereijido M., Rotunno C. A. Fluxes and Distribution of Sodium in Frog Skin : A new model. J Gen Physiol. 1968 May 1;51(5):280–289. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Clarkson T. W. The transport of salt and water across isolated rat ileum. Evidence for at least two distinct pathways. J Gen Physiol. 1967 Jan;50(3):695–727. doi: 10.1085/jgp.50.3.695. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cooper H., Levitan R., Fordtran J. S., Ingelfinger F. J. A method for studying absorption of water and solute from the human small intestine. Gastroenterology. 1966 Jan;50(1):1–7. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Diamond J. M., Wright E. M. Biological membranes: the physical basis of ion and nonelectrolyte selectivity. Annu Rev Physiol. 1969;31:581–646. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ph.31.030169.003053. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fordtran J. S., Locklear T. W. Ionic constituents and osmolality of gastric and small-intestinal fluids after eating. Am J Dig Dis. 1966 Jul;11(7):503–521. doi: 10.1007/BF02233563. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fordtran J. S., Rector F. C., Jr, Carter N. W. The mechanisms of sodium absorption in the human small intestine. J Clin Invest. 1968 Apr;47(4):884–900. doi: 10.1172/JCI105781. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fordtran J. S., Rector F. C., Jr, Ewton M. F., Soter N., Kinney J. Permeability characteristics of the human small intestine. J Clin Invest. 1965 Dec;44(12):1935–1944. doi: 10.1172/JCI105299. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. GILMAN A., KOELLE E., RITCHIE J. M. Transport of potassium ions in therat's intestine. Nature. 1963 Mar 23;197:1210–1211. doi: 10.1038/1971210b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hays R. M., Singer B., Malamed S. The effect of calcium withdrawal on the structure and function of the toad bladder. J Cell Biol. 1965 Jun;25(3 Suppl):195–208. doi: 10.1083/jcb.25.3.195. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Phillips S. F., Summerskill W. H. Water and electrolyte transport during maintenance of isotonicity in human jejunum and ileum. J Lab Clin Med. 1967 Oct;70(4):686–698. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. SEDAR A. W., FORTE J. G. EFFECTS OF CALCIUM DEPLETION ON THE JUNCTIONAL COMPLEX BETWEEN OXYNTIC CELLS OF GASTRIC GLANDS. J Cell Biol. 1964 Jul;22:173–188. doi: 10.1083/jcb.22.1.173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schultz S. G., Fuisz R. E., Curran P. F. Amino acid and sugar transport in rabbit ileum. J Gen Physiol. 1966 May;49(5):849–866. doi: 10.1085/jgp.49.5.849. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Turnberg L. A., Bieberdorf F. A., Morawski S. G., Fordtran J. S. Interrelationships of chloride, bicarbonate, sodium, and hydrogen transport in the human ileum. J Clin Invest. 1970 Mar;49(3):557–567. doi: 10.1172/JCI106266. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Turnberg L. A., Fordtran J. S., Carter N. W., Rector F. C., Jr Mechanism of bicarbonate absorption and its relationship to sodium transport in the human jejunum. J Clin Invest. 1970 Mar;49(3):548–556. doi: 10.1172/JCI106265. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wright E. M., Diamond J. M. Effects of pH and polyvalent cations on the selective permeability of gall-bladder epithelium to monovalent ions. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1968 Aug;163(1):57–74. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(68)90033-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wright H. K., Cleveland J. C., Tilson M. D., Herskovic T. Morphology and absorptive capacity of the ileum after ileostomy in man. Am J Surg. 1969 Feb;117(2):242–245. doi: 10.1016/0002-9610(69)90310-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Gut are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES