Cutting-edge research conducted on microscopic tunnels in horses' intestinal walls has revealed that these channels play a key role in helping intestines heal after life-threatening colic episodes.

These tunnels, called chloride channel 2 (ClC-2), are for chloride ions located in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract near tight junctions. These tight junctions form when the outer membranes of two cells, like those of the lining of the intestine, "fuse" together to form an almost impermeable barrier. Together with the chloride channels, tight junctions play an important role in regulating the permeability (leakiness) of the intestinal wall.

Anthony Blikslager, DVM, PhD, professor of equine surgery and gastroenterology in North Carolina State University's Department of Clinical Sciences, and colleagues discovered ClC-2 in 2004 and have tried to establish how they work and, more importantly, how to make them work better when the intestines are injured.

"The subject of tight junctions is a hot area of research," said Blikslager. "The thinking is that injured sections of the gastrointestinal tract–such as the injury that occurs after the intestine twists–heal very much like a skin wound would, except that the tight junctions of the intestine have to be reconstructed to prevent leakiness