Claire M Payne, Ronnie Fass, Harris Bernstein, Jorge Giron, Carol Bernstein, Katerina Dvorak, Harinder Garewal
The mechanisms that regulate ionic balance, fluid absorption and secretion in the gastrointestinal tract are complex. Disturbance of this homeostatic state by bile acids, bacterial enterotoxins and neoplasm-derived secretagogues, for example, can lead to diarrhea. Determining the causes of chronic diarrhea in individual patients may, therefore, represent a diagnostic challenge. The gastrointestinal tract has finely tuned mechanisms to maintain ionic balance, fluid absorption and secretion. To achieve this homeostasis, various ionic transport proteins/complexes are targeted to the apical, basal or basolateral membranes of epithelial cells...
October 2006: European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology