Active transport by intestines of fetal and newborn rabbits

¹ Departments of Physiology and Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Everted sacs of intestine from fetal or 3-day-old rabbits were found to transport glucose, 6-deoxy-d-glucose, galactose and l-histidine against concentration gradients aerobically. Active transport was also demonstrated for 6-deoxy-d-glucose, l-tyrosine and l-histidine under anaerobic conditions. The capacity to transport l-histidine anaerobically was found to decrease rapidly during the 1st week after birth, while the aerobic transport rate increased slightly.