Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is the key treatment of acute diarrhea in children as it restores the electrolyte balance by stimulating the intestinal sodium/glucose transporter SGLT1 to induce fluid absorption. WHO and The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition projected ORSs with different chemical compositions. The main cause of childhood acute gastroenteritis is rotavirus (RV).

A new study published in Scientific Reports evaluated the effects of ORS with different concentration of glucose and sodium on RV induced secretion.

In this study, Ussing chambers technique was used for electophysiology experiments to evaluate ion fluid flux.

The results revealed that ESPGHAN ORS (sodium 60 mmol/L and glucose 111 mmol/L) induced a more potent proabsorptive effect in Caco-2 cells than WHO ORS, and this effect depended on the sodium/glucose ratio. Titration showed that RV-induced fluid secretion can be regressed to a proabsorptive direction when sodium and glucose concentration fall in specific ranges, specifically 45-60 mEq/L and 80-110 mM, respectively. The results were complete by testing commercial ORSs. It was noted that ORS proabsorptive potency depends on sodium and glucose concentrations.

In inference, it was stated that optimal ORS composition should be tailored to reduce RV-induced ion secretion by also considering palatability.

Source: Scientific Reports. 2020; 10: 7803. Published online 2020 May 8. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64818-3