Transport cell for examining solute transfer across biological membranes

A transport cell was designed for examining in vitro solute transfer across biological membranes. When using the intestine as a model membrane, a primary advantage of the method is that there is no need to evert the intestine. This eliminates the influence of eversion on the structural and functional integrity of the intestine and thus its possible influence on solute transfer. Preliminary studies using salicylamide were performed to quantitate various parameters of the apparatus. Clearance values for the mucosal‐to‐serosal transfer of salicylamide across the everted rat intestine were calculated per unit of membrane surface area. The clearance per area values obtained agree reasonably well with those reported in the literature using different methods. The reproducibility of the transport data agrees favorably with other methods. The utility of the present method is explored.