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.

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

In this study, the chambers technique was used for electophysiology experiments to gauge ion-fluid flux.

The findings revealed that The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) ORS (sodium 60 mmol/L and glucose 111 mmol/L) induced a more potent proabsorptive effect in Caco-2 cells than the World Health Organization (WHO) ORS, and this effect depended on the sodium/glucose ratio. While titration experiments demonstrated that RV-induced fluid secretion can be reverted to a proabsorptive direction when sodium and glucose concentration fall in specific ranges – 45-60 mEq/L and 80-110 mM, respectively.

Therefore, it was inferred that ORS proabsorptive potency depends on sodium and glucose concentrations. Thus, optimal ORS composition should be tailored to reduce RV-induced ion secretion by also considering palatability.

Source: Scientific Reports. 2020 May 8;10(1):7803. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64818-3.