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Abstract
An assay (enteropooling assay) to test the diarrheogenic property of prostaglandins
is described. Fasted rats are given a prostaglandins either orally or subcutaneously,
and are killed 30 min later. The entire small intestine is removed and its contents
collected into a test tube. The greater the volume of this intestinal fluid, the more
diarrheogenic is the prostaglandin. The assay is simple, rapid, quantitative, and
predictive of diarrhea. It can be used to grade the relative diarrhoegenic activity
of prostaglandins as well as to test agents that may block this effect. The accumulation
of fluid into the small intestine is called "enteropooling". It is the sum of (a)
the fluid being excreted from the blood into the lumen, and (b) to a lesser extent,
the portion of fluid already into the lumen but whose absorption is inhibited by the
prostaglandin. The degree of enteropooling depends also on how much fluid flows from
the small to the large intestine. Our results support the hypothesis that the diarrhea
observed after administration of high doses of prostaglandins is due to accumulation
of abundant fluid into the small intestine, and not intestinal hypermotility. This
fluid is then carried into the large intestine and eventually expelled as diarrhea.
Agents other than prostaglandins were tested for enteropooling activity. Laxatives
such as castor oil, hypertonic solutions and bile salts caused enteropooling.