Effect of Deficiencies of Sodium and Potassium on Motility of the Intestine of the Rat. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Maintenance of adult female albino rats on a diet containing 0.005% potassium for 6 weeks resulted in a 50% decrease in intestinal propulsive motility. Reduction of the sodium content of this diet from 0.25% to 0.005% did not result in an increase in intestinal motility. Feeding a diet containing 0.005% sodium and 0.5% potassium did not alter the intestinal propulsive motility of the albino rats when compared with observations of control animals on a diet containing 0.5% potassium and 0.25% sodium.