Fluid and glucose transport across intestinal epithelium following honey intake in rats

Abstract

The effect of honey intake on fluid and glucose absorption in rats was studied using everted sacs intestine techniques. Twelve rats (180-200 gm) were randomly selected and grouped into the control (A) and honey-fed (test) group (B) with six rats in each group. The control group was fed with rat chow and water while the test group was fed with rat chow, water and honey. The experiment lasted for 4 weeks excluding two weeks of acclimatization. The animals were scarified at the end of study and the abdomen opened immediately, and the intestine dissected out. 10 cm long of the intestine (2 from jejunum, 2 from ileum) were cut out and used for the everted sacs experiment. The results showed that honey intake did not affect fluid transport but affected glucose transport across the small intestine. There were no significant differences observed in initial wet weight (IWW), initial serosal volume (ISV) and final serosal volume (FSV) in both the test and control groups (p>0.05). No significant differences were also observed in mucosal fluid transfer (MET), serosal fluid transfer (SET) and gut fluid uptake (GFU) in both the test and control groups (p>0.05). However, mucosal glucose transfer (MGT), serosal glucose transfer (SGT) and GGU, while MGT and SGT were significantly higher in the test group compared to the control (p<0.05), the gut glucose uptake (GGU) was however significantly reduced in the test compared with the control (p<0.05). It is therefore concluded that honey intake significantly reduced GGU while it significantly increased MGT and SGT in the intestinal epithelium of Wister rats.