Abstracts Health Sciences

Ionic fluxes in gastric pouches

by Robert T. Chambers

Neutral and acidic fluid instillation tests were carried in dog denervated corpus gastric pouches with and without topical treatment of the pouches by saline or urea solutions to delineate the ionic fluxes involved with gastric mucosal competence and acidity regulation. Results showed a bidirectional chloride ion flux. The flux of chloride from lumen to mucosa was independent of the type of cation but seemed to be constant for the luminal concentration of chloride. Treatment with four molar urea solution results in the loss of the ability, of the pouch to contain an acid solution, the gastric mucosal competence. Weaker urea solution treatments result in only an influx of sodium chloride containing fluid into the pouch. The exact mechanism of gastric mucosal competence and acidity regulation could not be delineated but a probable mechanism is suggested.