salt & water transport & their control Flashcards
(37 cards)
what does water & electrolytes provide medium for?
- digestive processes within the GI tract
- metabolic processes within the body absorption
- replace daily loss of body fluids on sweat, urine, lungs and faeces
what is secretion/absorption of water and electrolytes regulated by?
- gut luminal contents in absence of food electrolytes are primarily responsible for creation of osmotic in gut lumen
- enteric and autonomic signals
- endocrine hormones
- immunogenic signals
how is the conservation of water and salts efficient?
- bidirectional secretion and absorption occur across GI epithelium daily
- secretions dominate the upper GI tract: saliva, bile, gastric and pancreatic juice, intestinal juice
- facilitate movement along the GI tract, mixing with digestive enzymes, chemical reactions, nutrient absorption
- absorption dominates overall: 98% ingested and secreted water and electrolytes are absorbed
why is the small intestine the primary site for absorption?
- ingested and secreted water and electrolytes are predominantly absorbed in the small intestine
- distinct secretion and absorptive profiles depend on variations in epithelial membrane transport proteins and permeability along the GI tract
what are the adaptations of the small intestine?
- surface area: folds, villi, microvilli
- villi lymphatic and blood vessels
- enterocyte actin microfilaments rhythmically contract to move microvilli for maximum exposure to lumen contents
- rapid response to chyme: hypertonic (osmosis of water into lumen to form isotonic chyme) and acidic (rapid increase in HCO3- rich secretions)
- epithelium is more permeable than the large intestine
what are the adaptations of the large intestine?
- no villi but surface is covered with crypts/intestinal glands
- smaller role in transport of water and salts, bacterial microbiome role in protein digestion/vitamin synthesis
- smaller role in digestion: nutrient absorption is limited
- epithelium is less permeable than small intestine
- has additional absorptive capacity for water and NaCl in exchange for K+ loss
how do non-polar hydrophobic molecules move across membranes?
- molecules are small and uncharged polar molecules
- they diffuse down a concentration gradient
how do large and charged polar molecules move across membranes?
facilitated diffusion: required carrier or channel membrane proteins
how does primary active transport work?
- hydrolysis of ATP provides energy to move ions against their electrochemical gradient
- Na+/K+ ATPase pump
how does secondary active transport work?
- uses gradient created by primary pump to move substances against its electrochemical gradient
- symport
- antiport
what does symport mean?
2 molecules in same direction
what does antiport mean?
2 molecules in opposite direction
how does the sodium potassium ATPase pump work?
- 3 Na+ exported and 2 K+ imported against electrochemical gradient using energy from ATP hydrolysis by ATPase
- keeps Na+ cytosol concentration low
- important mechanism driving gut absorption
what are the principles of enterocyte transport?
- polarised with an apical and basolateral memrbane
- tight junctions provide a barrier to free flow of gut lumen contents
- tight junctions more permeable in proximal small intestine
- tonicity of chyme entering duodenum affects bidirectional fluid flux
- occurs by trans cellular and paracellular routes
- transcellular absorption may be against concentration gradient and require ATP
- paracellular routes do not require energy
what are the 3 types of electrolyte transport?
- passive
- solvent drag
- active
what is passive electrolyte transport?
down electrochemical gradient through ion channels or carriers or permeable tight junctions
what is solvent drag electrolyte transport?
water follows Na+ gradient via osmosis taking other ions
what is active electrolyte transport?
requires ATP, Na+/K+ ATPase pump depletes cellular Na+ and draws Na+ across apical membrane from gut lumen via channel or cotransporter
how are water and electrolytes transported in the small intestine?
- chyme contains water and key electrolytes Na+, K+, Cl0 and HCO3- from injected food and secretions of the GI tract
- rapid osmotic equilibrium in the duodenum to form isotonic chyme (secretion of H2O into hypotonic chyme and absorption of H2O from hypotonic chyme)
- jejunum absorbs Na+, K+, Cl- and H2O
- ileum secretes HCO3-
- Na+ and Cl- are considered, HCO3- secretion
how are water and electrolytes transported in the large intestine?
- smaller volume of chyme enters large intestine, 100-200ml is excreted
- water and electrolytes are absorbed in proximal colon
- tight junctions prevent back diffusion of ions into lumen allowing more compete NaCl absorption, limited loss in faeces
- secretion of HCO2- and K+ occurs
how is Na+ absorbed in the small intestine?
- drives absorption of ions, organics, H2O
- driven by basolateral active transport of Na+ into the interstitial space via Na+/K+ ATPase pump
- dominance of mechanisms vary along the small intestine
how doe mechanisms vary along the small intestine?
- via passive diffusion
- bia apical membrane carrier proteins
- organic substrate Na/glucose and Na/amino acid co-transporters
- Na/H antiport
- Na/Cl symport (ileum)
how is Cl- absorbed in the small intestine?
- Cl- absorption occurs from electrical gradient
- Na+ absorbed with nutrient is electrogenic (less to net negative charge in lumen and net positive charge in paracellular spaces) which drives an electrochemical gradient for Cl- absorption
- cotransport with Na+: dominant mechanism in proximal ileum
- counter transport in exchange for HCO3-: dominant in distal ilia as Na+ decreased, large intestine
- carbonic anhydrase mediated production of HCO3- in the cell occurs for Cl- exchange
how is Na+ absorbed in the large intestine?
- driven by Na+/K+ ATPase in the basolateral membrane
- sodium entry by: Na+ channels, Na+/H+ transporter and no glucose/amino acid carrier activity
- K+ becomes concentrated in lumen as water is absorbed from gut; may be absorbed down a concentration gradient or secreted when lumen concentration is low (net secretion)