The Effect of Varied Oxygen Supply and of Food Intake on Water Movement in Surviving Liver Tissue

Abstract

Water movement in liver slices has been measured in the presence of varied oxygen supply and during the progress of gastrointestinal digestion. Maximum water intake occurs both with anoxia and with exposure to oxygen when animals have received no food during 20 to 24 hours. It diminishes almost immediately after the ingestion of food and is least after 8 to 10 hours when digestion is nearly complete. These changes coincide with the passage of amino acids from the gastrointestinal tract to the liver by way of the blood. Movement of water into the liver cells is favorable to the entrance of dissolved substances and when it is greatest with approaching anoxia the movement promotes the diffusion of oxygen into the cells.

The Relation of Oxygen Supply to Water Movement and to Urea Formation in Surviving Liver Tissue

“…With the progress of the experiments it became evident that water movement in immersed liver slices varied not only with their oxygen supply but with the stage of gastrointestinal digestion at the time when the liver tissue was obtained. In the accompanying publication (12) it is shown that liver slices take up the greatest quantity of water both with anoxia and with oxygen when they are from animals that have received no food during 20 hours. With ingestion of food, water intake by the slices has progressively diminished and has reached its lowest level 12 hours after feeding.…”