Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Top
  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal
  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Advertisement

Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI105531

Water and Solute Movement in the Small Intestine of Patients with Sprue

John S. Fordtran, Floyd C. Rector, T. Ward Locklear, and Maynard F. Ewton

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

†

Address requests for reprints to Dr. John S. Fordtran, Dept. of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75235.

*

Submitted for publication June 30, 1966; accepted November 3, 1966.

Supported by research grant AM-06506 and training grants T1-AM-5395 and T1-AM-5490 from National Institutes of Health.

Find articles by Fordtran, J. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

†

Address requests for reprints to Dr. John S. Fordtran, Dept. of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75235.

*

Submitted for publication June 30, 1966; accepted November 3, 1966.

Supported by research grant AM-06506 and training grants T1-AM-5395 and T1-AM-5490 from National Institutes of Health.

Find articles by Rector, F. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

†

Address requests for reprints to Dr. John S. Fordtran, Dept. of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75235.

*

Submitted for publication June 30, 1966; accepted November 3, 1966.

Supported by research grant AM-06506 and training grants T1-AM-5395 and T1-AM-5490 from National Institutes of Health.

Find articles by Locklear, T. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

†

Address requests for reprints to Dr. John S. Fordtran, Dept. of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75235.

*

Submitted for publication June 30, 1966; accepted November 3, 1966.

Supported by research grant AM-06506 and training grants T1-AM-5395 and T1-AM-5490 from National Institutes of Health.

Find articles by Ewton, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published March 1, 1967 - More info

Published in Volume 46, Issue 3 on March 1, 1967
J Clin Invest. 1967;46(3):287–298. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI105531.
© 1967 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published March 1, 1967 - Version history
View PDF
Abstract

Water and electrolyte movement in the jejunum of normal subjects and patients with sprue was measured during perfusion with isotonic electrolyte solutions. Normal subjects absorbed water, sodium, and potassium. By contrast, in patients with sprue (seven with adult celiac sprue and one with tropical sprue) who had diarrhea and steatorrhea, these substances were secreted into the intestinal lumen. This indicates that the jejunal mucosa of these patients was in a secretory state with respect to water and electrolytes.

A method is presented for detecting abnormalities in the effective pore size in disease states. The method is based on the principle of restrictive diffusion and involves measuring the simultaneous diffusion rates of solutes of different molecular size. Since the method does not depend on measurement of water flow in response to osmotic pressure gradients, it can be used in disease states in which absorption and secretory processes involving water may be abnormal.

The ratio of urea to tritiated water diffusion in the jejunum of normal subjects averaged 0.8, compared to 0.2 in patients with sprue. This indicates a marked decrease in the effective pore size of the jejunal mucosa in sprue. This conclusion was strengthened by the finding that erythritol and L-xylose, which are somewhat larger solutes than urea, are essentially non-absorbable in small bowel involved with sprue.

Browse pages

Click on an image below to see the page. View PDF of the complete article

icon of scanned page 287
page 287
icon of scanned page 288
page 288
icon of scanned page 289
page 289
icon of scanned page 290
page 290
icon of scanned page 291
page 291
icon of scanned page 292
page 292
icon of scanned page 293
page 293
icon of scanned page 294
page 294
icon of scanned page 295
page 295
icon of scanned page 296
page 296
icon of scanned page 297
page 297
icon of scanned page 298
page 298
Version history
  • Version 1 (March 1, 1967): No description

Article tools

  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal

Metrics

  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Go to

  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
Advertisement
Advertisement

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts