Transport of nutrients and electrolytes across the intestinal wall in pigs

In recent years, intestinal transport processes have been studied in detail regarding both, functional and structural aspects. For monosaccharides different systems have been demonstrated for apical uptake: this includes the high-affinity SGLT1 as a distinct d-glucose system and GLUT5 for fructose. Specifically in pigs a low affinity, high-capacity system for d-glucose and d-mannose with no preference for Na+ over K+ and a very low affinity system are suggested as further uptake systems. As in other species, basolateral extrusion is mediated by GLUT2. The distributions of monosaccharide transport along the gastrointestinal axis as well as the potential role of paracellular monosaccharide absorption have not yet been clarified.Amino acids can principally be absorbed by the paracellular and transcellular pathway whereas transcellular transport can either be mediated by facilitated diffusion or secondary active Na+-coupled transport. This includes different transport systems for neutral, anionic and cationic acids. In addition, the presence of the di-/tripeptides transport system PEPT1 which depends on an inwardly directed H+-gradient has also been confirmed for the pig small intestine, its quantitative proportion is still under debate.Short chain fatty acids (SCFA) are the major end products of microbial carbohydrate fermentation which occurs along the gastrointestinal tract with the highest production rates in the large intestines. At least two uptake mechanisms have to be assumed, i.e., non-ionic diffusion and anionic exchange via SCFA−/HCO3−-exchange. Controversial views still exist to what extent SCFA are metabolized within the epithelial tissue.Segmental differences between small and large intestines have been demonstrated for Na+ absorption. Whereas in the small intestines the major part of Na+ absorption is mediated by coupled nutrient transport systems, aldosterone sensitive Na+ channels and Na+/H+-exchange are the dominant mechanisms in the hindgut. For Cl− paracellular transport and anionic Cl−/HCO3−-exchange are the major absorptive mechanisms. Cl− secretion is mediated by apical channels which may be activated by toxins of different origin. Different types of Cl− channels have been identified, such as Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR), Ca-activated Cl− channels (CLCA) and Outwardly Rectifying Cl− Channels (ORCC). Whereas CFTR has clearly been shown for jejunal and colonic epithelial and goblet cells controversy still exists on the relevance of CLCA and ORCC in pigs.For Ca2+ there is evidence that both recently published channels TRPV5 and TRPV6 are also expressed in pig intestinal tissues, however, this has not yet been shown on protein level. From several functional approaches it was demonstrated that phosphate uptake can be mediated by both, a Na+-dependent transcellular component and paracellularly. On a molecular basis it is uncertain whether the transport protein of transcellular mechanism belongs to the NaPi-IIb cotransporter family.