Influence of Age on Antisecretory Factor Inhibition of Enterotoxin Action in the Pig Small Intestine

Abstract

The effect of age on antisecretory factor (ASF) inhibition of cholera toxin (CT) and E. coli STa enterotoxin-induced fluid secretion in pig jejunum was investigated in vivo. Comparison was made between 2 week and 8 week old animals. ASF inhibited (P less than 0.05) CT-induced fluid secretion by up to 90% in the 8 week animals (from 18.4 +/- 5.87 mg/mg loop dry weight to 0.74 +/- 0.54 mg/mg loop dry weight). There was no effect of ASF on CT-secretion in the 14 day pigs suggesting that there is a minimum age before ASF is effective. ASF had no significant effect on net fluid transport after STa challenge in pigs from either age group. However, the predominant action of STa was to inhibit absorption and this would not be affected by ASF.