The Absorption of Lactic Acid from the Reticulo-Rumen of the Sheep

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Abstract
A series of acute experiments has been carried out on sheep to study some of the factors which influence the rate of absorption of lactic acid from the ligated washed-out forestomachs. The rate of absorption of lactic acid was faster from an 0.12[image] than from an 0.06[image] solution and faster from a solution at pH 4 than from a solution at pH 5. The absorption rate was less from a solution with a tonicity of 440 m-osmoles than from a solution with a tonicity of 300 m-osmoles. The absorption rate of lactic acid was also decreased with the concomitant absorption of a mixture of acetic, propionic, and butyric acids from acid solutions but not from alkaline solutions. The rate of absorption of lactic acid was slow relative to the volatile fatty acids from solutions which were either acid or alkaline. Anaesthetization of the sheep with sodium pentobarbitone did not decrease the rate of lactic acid or volatile fatty acid absorption from the non-ligated, washedout reticulo-rumen. The results are in conformity with the hypothesis that the diffusion barrier of the reticulo-rumen wall to nutrients in the digesta is a lipid membrane containing water-filled pores.