Investigations of the activity of disaccharidases in growing sheep. 1. Suckling lambs from birth to an age of 4 weeks

Abstract

Investigations of the course disaccharidases take in duodenum and pancreas were made with 20 suckling lambs (straw litter, supplementary feed from 3rd week onwards) at an age between 1 and 30 days. In the first week of the Lambs' lives the activity of lactase in the duodenal mucosa was highest. In the following weeks there was a slightly falling tendency. During the first four weeks of the lambs' lives there were no statistically significant differences concerning the maltase activities in the duodenal mucosa. At the beginning of the first and at the end of the fourth week of the lambs' lives the activity of lactase in the content of the duodenum was significantly lower than at the end of the first and up to the third week. The maltase in the contents of the duodenum showed a significantly higher activity at the end of the fourth week of life. Enzyme activities in the contents of the duodenum were significantly lower then those in the mucosa. After maltase activity in the pancreas had shown high values in the first two days of life, it decreased distinctly toward the end of the first week and than increased again up to the fourth week of life. In the period investigated, saccharase activity in the duodenal mucosa and in the contents of the duodenum could not be detected in any lamb.