Water concentration in the gastrointestinal tract

Range rat small intestine 82%: rat colon 71%: mouse small intestine 74%: mouse colon 67% w/w
Organism Rodent
Reference McConnell EL, Basit AW, Murdan S. Measurements of rat and mouse gastrointestinal pH, fluid and lymphoid tissue, and implications for in-vivo experiments. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2008 Jan60(1):63-70. p.67 left column top paragraphPubMed ID18088506
Method "To determine the gastrointestinal water and solid contents, the wet mass of the section contents was recorded, followed by lyophilization (Virtis-Advantage Freeze Drying Apparatus, Virtis, UK), measurement of the dry mass and calculation of water content."
Comments "As expected, the water concentration decreased along the length of the gastrointestinal tract from 82% w/w of the small intestinal contents to 71% w/w in the colon in rats, and from 74 to 67% w/w along the same segments in mice. The decreasing water content was observed visually as an increase in the viscosity of the gastrointestinal contents."
Entered by Uri M
ID 110518