Effect of atropine on intestinal absorption of water and chloride.

ABINOVITCH (I) in 1927 studied the effect of atropine on the absorption R of water and chloride from Thiry-Vella fistulas in two unanesthetized dogs. The atropine was administered either by subcutaneous injection or by placing it in the 0.9 per cent NaCl test solution. Rabinovitch stated that atropine increased both water and chloride absorption; however not all the data were presented, and no statistical analysis was performed to determine if differences observed were significant, hence the problem cannot be considered solved. The question is of considerable theoretic interest since atropine has marked effects on intestinal secretion and motility. The net uptake of a substance from the bowel might be influenced by either of these actions of atropine, or cholinergic blockade itself might have an effect on rate of absorption.