A new assay for cystic fibrosis factor: effects of sera from patients with cystic fibrosis in the in vitro electrical properties of rat jejunum.

The in vitro electrical properties of rat jejunum were utilized to assay 
a factor or factors in serum from patients with cystic fibrosis 
(CF). Sera from patients with CF were found to decrease short 
circuit current (SCC) and the SCC response to glucose, and to 
increase electrical resistance. These effects were present in all 24 patients 
with CF and 10 of 14 parents of CF patients and 
absent from the serum of 21 control subjects. This quantitative technique 
provides an alternative to the ciliostatic assays for the detection of 
the CF factor or factors. 