Inhibition of intestinal secretion by rice

Rates of stool output are reduced when cooked rice is incorporated into oral rehydration solutions. We found that a fraction extracted from rice inhibited the response of intestinal epithelial crypt cells to adenosine 3ʹ5ʹ-cyclic monophosphate, a major intracellular mediator of secretion. This response to rice was seen as an inhibition of cell shrinkage and of chloride efflux in fresh suspended guineapig crypt cells. The active fraction was of low molecular weight (<1·5 kDa), hydrophobic, and not a peptide or glycoprotein. It may be chloride-channel blocker.