Electrical Potential across the Rat Small Intestine stimulated by Adenosine Triphosphate

Abstract

TRANSPORT processes in the small intestine are dependent on energy which suggests the participation, directly or indirectly, of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). No evidence has, however, been produced that exogenous ATP can influence intestinal transport processes, which may well result from the difficulty of getting the unstable ATP molecule to the correct place in the cellular organization before its hydrolysis occurs. A way around this difficulty is offered by the study of electrical potentials in the intestine, which are known to be associated with intestinal transfer of various substances. Potential changes can be measured within a few minutes of setting up the intestinal preparation, and appear within seconds after addition of transferable substances. They therefore appear to offer an ideal method for studying the effect of ATP on intestinal transfer.