A common pathway for sugar transport in hamster intestine

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Abstract
The competition between different sugars for the transport mechanism of hamster small intestine was tested with an in vitro method which allowed the use of a single segment of intestine for both control and experimental periods. The transport of the test sugar d-galactose was inhibited by other sugars known to be actively absorbed by the intestine; namely, d-glucose, α-methyl-d-glucoside, i-deoxy-d-glucose, 6-deoxy-d-glucose and 3-o-methyl-d-glucose. On the other hand d-mannose and d-xylose, two sugars not actively transported, did not inhibit d-galactose absorption. In addition, sugars known to be actively absorbed produced an inhibition of transport of d-glucose and 6-deoxy-d-glucose when these were selected as test sugars. The results of these experiments are consistent with the view that all transported sugars compete for a common pathway in hamster intestine. Various hypotheses of sugar transport are discussed in light of the present data.