Disaccharidase Activity In Small Intestine Research Articles

New research highlights: Impact of chronic ingestion of white kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. Beldia) on small-intestinal disaccharidase activity in Wistar rats.

The chronic ingestion of raw or undercooked kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple organ dysfunction; the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. The objective of this study was to assess the gavage effects of a raw Beldia bean variety on the brush border disaccharidase activities in the jejunal mucosa of Wistar rats. Twenty young adult male rats were randomly assigned into 2 groups of 10 rats each: Control, rats were gavaged with 300 mg of a rodent pellet flour suspension (RPFS); Experimental, rats were orogastrically fed a dose of 300 mg Beldia bean flour suspension (BBFS). Prior to determining the disaccharidase activity by Dahlqvist method, the blood and stool specimens were collected on day 10. The sera and feces were screened for the presence of lectins by serologic and hemagglutination assays. The results showed that the brush border maltase and sucrase activities were significantly diminished but lactase activity did not undergo any change in BBFS-gavaged animals as compared with control. Preliminary immunobiochemical assays revealed the absence of lectins in the systemic circulation and feces of rats, but further work is required to prove this. Overall, the dietary administration of BBFS caused depression of the activity of the small intestinal enzymes maltase and sucrase.

Modulation of digestive enzyme activities in the avian digestive tract in relation to diet composition and quality.

In nature, birds are faced with variable food sources that may differ in composition (protein vs. carbohydrates) and quality (highly digestible material vs. indigestible fiber). Studies in passerine birds and some commercial poultry demonstrate that the gastrointestinal tract can respond to varying diet composition and quality by changing morphology and/or activities of digestive enzymes. However, studies in additional avian species are warranted to understand generalities of these trends. We first fed juvenile mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), chickens (Gallus gallus), and quails (Coturnix coturnix) on either high-carbohydrate or high-protein diets. For the most part, birds fed the high-carbohydrate diet had higher small intestinal and cecal disaccharidase activities (maltase and sucrase). However, only mallards exhibited higher small intestinal aminopeptidase-N (APN) activities when fed the high-protein diet. These results differ from passerine birds, which largely modulate small intestinal proteases, but not disaccharidases. In another trial, we fed Canada geese (Branta canadensis) diets that varied in both their protein and fiber concentrations for approximately 3.5months. Birds fed the high-fiber diets had significantly longer small intestines and caeca compared to those fed low-fiber diets. Additionally, geese fed the high-fiber diets exhibited lower mass-specific activities of small intestinal sucrase, and higher activities of APN when summed across the small intestine and ceca. Similar to the avian species above, geese fed the high-protein diets did not exhibit flexibility in their small intestinal APN activities. Overall, these experiments demonstrate that responsiveness of the avian digestive tract to diet composition may have phylogenetic or ecological constraints. Studies on other avian taxa are needed to understand these patterns.

IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF SPIRAMYCIN IN EXPERIMENTAL GIARDIASIS.

Giardiasis is a major global cause of water borne diarrheal disease, which contributes greatly to the burden of malnutrition and malabsorption especially in children. There is a great demand for a new effective therapeutic agent against giardiasis that can be used safely during pregnancy, lactation and in infants. In the present study, the therapeutic effect of spiramycin as well as its immunomodulatory mechanism of action in giardiasis had been investigated. 90 Swiss albino mice were used in this study and classified into 3 groups: GI: 40 mice infected with Giardia lamblia cysts, GII: 40 infected mice that received spiramycin treatment in a daily oral dose of 1000 IU/gm body weight for one week starting one week post infection and GIII: 10 control uninfected untreated mice. 20 mice from each infected group were sacrificed 2 weeks post infection (p.i.) and the remaining mice were sacrificed 4 weeks p.i. Mice of the control groups were sacrificed at one time. The antigiardial therapeutic efficacy of spiramycin was assessed 2 and 4 weeks p.i. by counting of Giardia cysts in stool of mice and studying the histopathological changes and disaccharidase activity in small intestine of mice of different groups. Significant reduction in cysts number shedded in stool of treated animals reached 95.73%. The histopathological changes were mild in all infected groups 2 weeks p.i., while 4 weeks p.i. There was also a significant increase in the number of IELs in treated groups denoting the stimulatory effect of spiramycin on lymphocytic proliferation. On studying the disaccharidase activity, there was significant increase in both sucrase and maltase activities in the treated groups as compared with the nontreated groups. The possible immunomodulatory mechanism of action of spiramycin was studied by measuring the local IgA deposition in small intestinal mucosa by PAP technique 4 weeks p.i. The levels of IgA in small intestine were higher in SP-treated group as compared with the non-treated group. The present results suggested that spiramycin has high efficacy as anti-giardial agent possibly by stimulation of local IgA production.

Effects of the combination of SGLT2 selective inhibitor ipragliflozin and various antidiabetic drugs in type 2 diabetic mice.

The sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) is responsible for most glucose reabsorption in the kidney and has been proposed as a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In the present study, the combinatory effects of SGLT2 selective inhibitor ipragliflozin and various antidiabetic drugs in high-fat diet and streptozotocin-nicotinamide-induced type 2 diabetic mice were investigated. Ipragliflozin dose-dependently increased urinary glucose excretion and improved glucose tolerance. In addition, each antidiabetic drug (mitiglinide, glibenclamide, sitagliptin, insulin, metformin, voglibose, or rosiglitazone) also significantly improved glucose tolerance without affecting urinary glucose excretion. Combination treatment of ipragliflozin with each antidiabetic drug additively improved glucose tolerance. In these experiments, ipragliflozin-induced increases in urinary glucose excretion were not influenced by combination treatment with antidiabetic drugs. Further, ipragliflozin did not affect antidiabetic drug-induced insulinotropic action (mitiglinide and glibenclamide), increases in plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 and insulin levels via inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 activity (sitagliptin), increases in plasma insulin level (insulin), decreases in hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity (metformin), inhibition of small intestinal disaccharidase activity (voglibose), or improvement of impaired insulin secretion (rosiglitazone). These results suggest that combination treatment of ipragliflozin with various antidiabetic drugs additively enhances the improvement in glucose tolerance without affecting each drug's unique pharmacological effects. Ipragliflozin may therefore be expected to be effective when administered as part of a combination regimen in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Influence of weaning age on the villous height and disaccharidase activities in the porcine small intestine.

Body weight gain after weaning is correlated with villous height and disaccharidase activity. This evidence suggests that the maintenance of the small intestinal structure and function after weaning is important for the growth of piglets. We demonstrated that the influence of weaning age was obtained by disaccharidase activities and villous height in eight sections of the porcine small intestine. Therefore, we designed three weaning ages (weaned at the ages of 14, 21 or 28 days) and the piglets were slaughtered after 7 or 14 days post-weaning. The remaining suckling piglets were slaughtered at the age of 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Four piglets were slaughtered at each event; therefore, 44 piglets were used in this study. Villous height and disaccharidase activities were measured in each section of the small intestine. Early weaning such as that at 14 days had severe influence on villous and disaccharidase activities. In particular, weaning of 14-day-olds did not result in maltase activity at least 2 weeks post-weaning. Accordingly, the weaning age of crossbred piglets is recommended to be at least 21 days or more on the basis of villous height and disaccharidase activity analyses.

Inhibitory Effect of Baicalin on Disaccharidase in Small Intestine

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of baicalin (BA) on disaccharidase activities and explore the hypoglycemic mechanism of BA. Method: Brush border membrane from small intestine of rats was prepared. The mem-brane was incubated with different concentrations of BA. Sucrase and maltase activities were measured. Postprandial blood glucose testing of normal mice by sucrose-loading was investigated. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with 100 and 200 mg·kg-1 of BA twice daily for four weeks. Both age-matched normal control rats and diabetic rats only received 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt (CMC-Na) aqueous solution. The plasma glucose level and body weight were monitored every week. At the end of treatment,the disaccharidase activities in small intestine were measured. Results: In vitro,BA may significantly inhibit sucrase activity in a dose-dependent manner,but not affect maltase activity. Sucrose-loading test in mice showed the blood reduction with BA was slightly less than that with acarbose,but more effective than that with vehicle. Four-week treatment of BA may significantly de-crease blood glucose levels,increase body weight and reverse increase of sucrase activity in small intestine of diabetic rats. Conclu-sion: Baicalin shows its anti-diabetic effect partly via inhibiting small intestine disaccharidases.

Inhibitory Effect of Baicalin on Disaccharidase in Small Intestine

Aim The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of baicalin (BA) on disaccharidase activities and explore the hypoglycemic mechanism of BA. Method Brush border membrane from small intestine of rats was prepared. The membrane was incubated with different concentrations of BA. Sucrase and maltase activities were measured. Postprandial blood glucose testing of normal mice by sucrose-loading was investigated. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with 100 and 200 mg·kg −1 of BA twice daily for four weeks. Both age-matched normal control rats and diabetic rats only received 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt (CMC-Na) aqueous solution. The plasma glucose level and body weight were monitored every week. At the end of treatment, the disaccharidase activities in small intestine were measured. Results In vitro, BA may significantly inhibit sucrase activity in a dose-dependent manner, but not affect maltase activity. Sucrose-loading test in mice showed the blood reduction with BA was slightly less than that with acarbose, but more effective than that with vehicle. Four-week treatment of BA may significantly decrease blood glucose levels, increase body weight and reverse increase of sucrase activity in small intestine of diabetic rats. Conclusion Baicalin shows its anti-diabetic effect partly via inhibiting small intestine disaccharidases.

Effect of replacement of lactose with partially hydrolysed rice syrup on small intestine development in weaned pigs from 7 to 21 days

AbstractBACKGROUND: Feeding pigs with manufactured liquid diets has led to an increase in weaning weights compared with pigs receiving pelleted dry feed. Several alternative dietary ingredients are utilised in manufactured liquid diets other than by‐products of the dairy industry, especially as sources of carbohydrates. Postnatal gut development is important not only for protecting the neonate from enteric pathogens but also for digestion and the absorption of nutrients for growth. The present experiment was designed to study the effect of partially hydrolysed rice syrup as a replacement for lactose in manufactured liquid diets on the development of the small intestine in weaned pigs from 7 to 21 days.RESULTS: The replacement of lactose with partially hydrolysed rice syrup did not affect ileal and duodenal (P > 0.1) disaccharidase activity on day 14 or duodenal sucrase activity on day 21 but increased jejunal disaccharidase activity on day 14 and decreased small intestinal disaccharidase activity on day 21 (P < 0.05). The replacement did not affect alkaline phosphatase activity, the mucosal protein/DNA ratio or intestinal morphological measurements on either day 14 or day 21.CONCLUSION: These results suggest that partially hydrolysed rice syrup could be used as a replacement for lactose in manufactured liquid diets for neonatal pigs. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry

Digestive strategies in the South American subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

Ctenomys talarum is a subterranean herbivorous rodent which due to its particular life style is frequently exposed to variations in surface environmental conditions (i.e. food quality and availability, temperature). Thus, unlike other subterranean rodents, C. talarum has to buffer both the surface and burrow challenging environmental conditions. We studied the occurrence of digestive strategies at different levels of C. talarum living in their natural habitat. We determined the dimensions of different parts of the gastrointestinal tract and organs along as the activity of key digestive enzymes (disaccharidase, N-aminopeptidase) in different parts of the gut in individuals seasonally caught. The results show that C. talarum exhibits characteristics in the gut at the biochemical level (high disaccharidase activities in small intestine, high N-aminopeptidase activity in the caecum and large intestine, and a seasonal differential modulation of N-aminopeptidase activity in small and large intestines), which could represent adaptive strategies to face seasonal variations in key environmental factors.

Effects of Hachimi-jio-gan (Ba-Wei-Di-Huang-Wan) on Intestinal Function in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats

We examined the effects of Hachimi-jio-gan (HJ) on the small intestinal function in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The rats had free access to pellets containing 1% HJ extract powder for 4 weeks after STZ administration. The intestinal disaccharidase (sucrase and maltase) activity was elevated in STZ-treated rats compared with control rats, whereas it was significantly reduced by HJ administration. This suggested that HJ suppresses or delays monosaccharide production in the small intestinal epithelium. In addition, the intestinal mucosal weights and DNA contents that were significantly increased in the STZ-treated rats were restrained to the control level by HJ treatment. Simultaneously, we examined the changes in the plasma levels of glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2), which is a trophic factor specific for the intestine. The plasma GLP-2 levels significantly increased in the STZ-treated rats, whereas HJ decreased the plasma GLP-2 levels. Thus intestinal mucosal weights and DNA contents correlated with plasma GLP-2 levels in diabetes-associated bowel growth. These results suggest that HJ may normalize or suppress the small intestinal disaccharidase activity and the epithelial cell proliferation mediated by GLP-2 in the animal model rats.

Effects of realimentation on small intestinal morphology and disaccharidase activity in malnutrition Sprague-Dawley rats

Low birth-weight infant and intrauterine growth retardation are still a health problem, especially in Indonesia due to high prevalence and need to be reduced. Malnutrition in infants are most common occur in low birth-weight infants. Malnutrition in rats resulted in hypotrophic and normoplastic mucosa of the small intestine. The finding was not only showed that small intestine was able to maintain its cell number in condition with restriction nutrient, however also suggested the posibility of epithelial regeneration if given adequate nutrient intake. Did realimentation recover the hypotrophic normoplastic mucosa to normotrophic normoplastic? The study aim to answer that question. Experimental animal study with post test-control group design was performed using 40 male litter of Sprague-Dawley rats, was fed standard chow. The study was divided into phases prenatally-induced malnutrition and continued with phase realimentation. The result of this study is the body weight, mucosal thickness, villus height, cryptus depth, ratio of villus/ crypt, number of villi, protein content, and disaccharidases of rats realimentation group was higher than non-realimentation group, but lower than control group. Prenatally-induced malnutrition did not reduced the population of small intestinal enterocytes. Realimentation in rats in prenatally-induced malnutrition was able to improve the hypotrophy of small intestinal mucosa and to increase the disaccharidases activities but did not reach the normal values. Realimentation in rats in prenatally-induced malnutrition was able to improve the maturity of small intestine mucosa but did not reach the normal values. The information will be helpfull to decide the policy of maternal malnutrition. (Med J Indones 2006; 15:208-16) Keywords : small intestinal morphology, disaccharidase activity, Sprague-Dawley rats, prenatally-induced malnutrition, realimentation.

Disaccharidase activities in camel small intestine: Biochemical investigations of maltase–glucoamylase activity

Disaccharidases (maltase, cellobiase, lactase, and sucrase), α-amylase, and glucoamylase in the camel small intestine were investigated to integrate the enzymatic digestion profile in camel. High activities were detected for maltase and glucoamylase, followed by moderate levels of sucrase and α-amylase. Very low activity levels were detected for lactase and cellobiase. Camel intestinal maltase–glucoamylase (MG) was purified by DEAE-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200 columns. The molecular weight of camel small intestinal MG4 and MG6 were estimated to be 140,000 and 180,000 using Sephacryl S-200. These values were confirmed by SDS-PAGE, where the two enzymes migrated as single subunits. This study encompassed characterization of MGs from camel intestine. The Km values of MG4 and MG6 were estimated to be 13.3 mM and 20 mM maltose, respectively. Substrate specificity for MG4 and MG6 indicated that the two enzymes are maltase–glucoamylases because they catalysed the hydrolysis of maltose and starch with α-1,4 and α-1,6 glycosidic bonds, but not sucrose with α-1,2 glycosidic bond which was hydrolyzed by sucrase–isomaltase. Camel intestinal MG4 and MG6 had the same optimum pH at 7.0 and temperature optimum at 50 °C and 40 °C, respectively. The two enzymes were stable up to 50 °C and 40 °C, followed by strong decrease in activity at 60 °C and 50 °C, respectively. The effect of divalent cations on the activity of camel intestinal MG4 and MG6 was studied. All the examined divalent cations Ca 2+, Mn 2+, Mg 2+, Co 2+ and Fe 3+ had slight effects on the two enzymes except Hg 2+ which had a strong inhibitory effect. The effect of different inhibitors on MG4 and MG6 indicated that the two enzymes had a cysteine residue.

Inhibitory effects of extractives from leaves of Morus alba on human and rat small intestinal disaccharidase activity

The inhibitory effect on human and rat intestinal disaccharidase by the extractive from the leaves of Morus alba (ELM) containing 0.24 % 1-deoxynojirimycin equivalent and its inhibitory activities were investigated by the modified Dahlqvist method. In the presence of 1000-fold diluted ELM solution, the sucrase activity of four human samples was inhibited by 96 % and that of maltase and isomaltase by 95 and 99 %, respectively. The activities of trehalase and lactase were inhibited by 44 and 38 %, respectively. The human disaccharidase activities varied from sample to sample because the samples were obtained from different resected regions after surgery. However, the ratio of the inhibitory effect for sucrase, maltase, isomaltase, trehalase and lactase was very similar among the four samples, and also that of resembled rat intestinal disaccharides. The inhibitory constant of the 1-deoxynojirimycin equivalent for sucrase, maltase and isomaltase was 2.1 x 10(-4), 2.5 x 10(-4) and 4.5 x 10(-4) mm, respectively, and these inhibitory activities were shown, using rat brush border membrane vesicles, to be competitive. These results demonstrate that digestion is inhibited when an appropriate amount of ELM is orally ingested with sucrose or polysaccharide in man. When ELM was orally administered in a sucrose solution to fasted rats, the elevation in blood glucose was significantly suppressed, depending on the concentration of ELM given. These results suggest that ELM could be used as an ingredient in health foods and in foods that help to prevent diabetes.

Small Intestinal Morphology and Disaccharidase Activities in Early‐weaned Piglets Fed a Diet Containing Spray‐dried Porcine Plasma

The purpose of this study was to test whether dietary spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) in early-weaned piglets prevents small intestinal villus atrophy by trophic or protective activity. Fifty-four weaned, 18-day-old piglets were used to determine the effect of dietary SDPP on small intestinal villus length, crypt depth, enterocyt mitotic activity and brush border enzyme activities during the first week after weaning. The piglets were offered a diet containing either 8% SDPP or 8% casein. At 2 and 7 days after weaning, piglets were anaesthetized to provide samples of the small intestinal wall and killed immediately afterwards. There were no differences in daily gain and daily feed intake between the two dietary treatments. At day 2 after weaning, all piglets showed a marked reduction in villus height when compared with baseline values. In all piglets, small intestinal enterocyte mitotic activity had decreased by day 2 and was increased again on day 7. There were no significant effects of dietary SDPP on small intestinal villus length, crypt depth and enterocyt mitotic activity. This indicates that SDPP has no trophic effect on the small intestinal mucosa and that it does not protect against the damaging effect on the small intestinal villi that is associated with the process of weaning. There was no effect of SDPP on lactase-, sucrase- or maltase-specific activities that are a measure of the digestive function of the small intestine. It can be concluded that SDPP versus casein has no effect on small intestinal morphology and disaccharidase activities in early weaned piglets kept under low infection pressure.

Enteral exposure to crude red kidney bean lectin induces maturation of the gut in suckling pigs.

The present investigation characterized the effect of red kidney bean lectin exposure on gut maturation and function in young piglets. Eleven suckling pigs were given by stomach tube a crude red kidney bean lectin preparation (containing about 25% lectin, 400 mg/kg BW) (lectin-treated pigs) at 10, 11, and 12 d of life, and an additional 16 pigs (control pigs) were given saline instead. On the next day, the intestinal absorptive capacity was determined in vivo, and on the 14th d of life the piglets were killed and organs and small intestine samples were collected for analyses and in vitro permeability experiments. The lectin-treated pigs showed an increase in stomach weights and mucosa thickness, whereas no weight effect was found for the small intestine, spleen, liver, or adrenals. Morphometric analyses of the small intestine in lectin-treated pigs showed a decrease in villus heights, an increase in crypt depths and crypt cell mitotic indices, and fewer vacuolated enterocytes per villus and reduced vacuole size. Lectin treatment also resulted in a decrease in the absorption of different-sized marker molecules after gavage feeding, a decrease in intestinal marker permeability, and a change in small intestinal disaccharidase activities, with increased maltase and sucrase activities. The size of the pancreatic acini was also greater in the lectin-treated pigs, but no increases in enzyme content or pancreatic weight could be determined. In addition, the blood plasma levels of cholecystokinin were higher in the lectin-treated than in the control pigs. The results indicate that exposure to crude red kidney bean lectin induces structural and functional maturation of the gut and pancreatic growth in young suckling piglets. This possibility of inducing gut maturation may lead to an improvement in the piglets' ability to adapt to weaning and to an increase in the growth and health of these animals.

Effect of oat saponins and different types of dietary fibre on the digestion of carbohydrates

The effects of oat saponins (a mixture of avenacosides A and B) and dietary fibre (cellulose and guar gum) on the disaccharidase activities in the proximal small intestine of the rat were investigated. The influence of avenacosides A and B on the activity of disaccharidases and alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) was also studied in vitro. In vivo, oat diets with three avenacoside contents (negligible, normal and twice normal) were used. No significant differences in sucrase (EC 3.2.1.48), maltase (EC 3.2.1.20), trehalase (EC 3.2.1.28) and lactase (EC 3.2.1.21) activities were found between the oat groups after 19 d feeding. The rats that were given cellulose tended to have higher disaccharidase activities compared with the other groups. The avenacosides inhibited the lactase activity significantly in vitro while no or small effects on the other disaccharidases were found. In contrast, the in vitro hydrolysis of starch by alpha-amylase was increased in the presence of saponins, probably due to their detergent effect. Thus, the in vitro studies showed that the avenacosides could influence the enzyme activities. In vivo, these effects are probably minor due to the low avenacoside concentrations found in oats.

Small intestinal mucosa changes, including epithelial cell proliferative activity, of children receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

We examined the small intestinal histology disaccharidase activities as well as the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA of biopsies maintained in organ culture from seven children (ages 9 months to 5 years) receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Three children suffered from inflammatory bowel disease and received TPN for one month (short term). Four required long-term TPN (> 9 months) for short-bowel syndrome. DNA was extracted from the samples following serial precipitation with perchloric acid. Results were compared to those from 22 age-matched children investigated for abdominal pain or chronic diarrhea. Short-term TPN resulted in slightly lower lactase, sucrase, and palatinase activities that were not statistically different from controls. Long-term TPN resulted in focal mild villus atrophy and a decrease in disaccharidase activity in two patients. Biopsies from long-term TPN patients incorporated less thymidine compared to those of controls (P < 0.001) when data was expressed per total biopsy (3.6 +/- 1.1 vs. 8.4 +/- 1.1 fmol) or per milligram of tissue (1.0 +/- 0.12 vs 2.7 +/- 0.7 fmol). The above data are in general agreement with the hypoplastic effect of TPN in animals. However, in children, much longer periods of TPN are required to realize the changes.

Diurnal variation and increase of disaccharidase activity in diabetic rats.

The small intestinal disaccharidase activity and its daily variation in the diabetic rat have not been well described. Therefore, the small intestinal disaccharidase (maltase, lactase and sucrase) activity and its daily profile were studied in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats under physiological conditions. In diabetic rats, a similar pattern of diurnal variation of disaccharidase activity to control rats was observed, while the relationships between daily change of disaccharidase activity and that of food consumption suggested that there was a different mechanism of diurnal variation in diabetic rats. On the other hand, a significant increase of mean 24-h lactase and sucrase activities was noted in diabetic rats, while that of maltase was not significant. Using the in vitro incubation method, a significant correlation between glucose concentration and lactase or sucrase activity but not maltase activity was observed. However, insulin showed no effect on disaccharidase activity. Thus we clarified the presence of a diurnal variation of disaccharidase activity and an increase in its activity in diabetic rats. This change was suggested to be derived from high plasma glucose level.

Dietary Influences on Carbohydrases and Small Intestinal Starch Hydrolysis Capacity in Ruminants , ,

Data describing the influence of diet composition and intake on amylolytic and disaccharidase activities in the ruminant small intestine are reviewed. Changing dietary components from forage to grain increased pancreatic α-amylase activities in most studies; however, when metabolizable energy intake was equalized, concentrations of α-amylase in the pancreas and the total quantities in the small intestinal lumen were greater in forage-fed than in grain-fed animals. Concentration of pancreatic α-amylase increased with dietary energy intake. Changing diet composition or metabolizable energy intake exerted a small effect on intestinal disaccharidase activities, with hydrolytic capacity altered principally through changes in intestinal length. Other studies suggest a small contribution of intestinal disappearance of carbohydrates to net portal appearance of glucose. The fate of large portions of intestinal carbohydrate disappearance have not been adequately defined. For the importance of intestinal carbohydrate supply to be understood, the quantity of carbohydrate undergoing both enzymatic hydrolysis and absorption must be determined.

Total Parenteral Nutrition Energy Composition Affects Small Intestinal Disaccharidase Activity in the Newborn Miniature Pig

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) decreases disaccharidase activity in the small intestine of humans and miniature piglets. The possibility, however, that specific components of TPN (eg, the energy mix) will increase disaccharidase activity has largely been unexplored. The identification of such components would be particularly useful in the treatment of premature infants with immature gastrointestinal tracts and patients with small intestinal mucosal disease associated with decreased disaccharidase activity. To determine whether the TPN energy composition affects small intestinal disaccharidase activity, 7-day-old miniature piglet littermates were randomized to receive TPN containing either glucose (group G) or glucose and fat (group G/F) as the nonnitrogen energy source(s). The TPN regimens were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic. The piglets were not allowed oral intake during the 7 days they were maintained on TPN. At 14 days of age the piglets were killed and the small intestines analyzed for weight, protein, DNA, and disaccharidase activity. Body weight was similar between groups at both the beginning and end of the study. The TPN regimen did not affect small intestinal weight of protein and DNA content. However, jejunal and ileal sucrase and ileal maltase activities (mumol/min.kg body wt +/- SD) were greater in group G than those in group G/F (28 +/- 9 vs 19 +/- 11, p = 0.04; 13 +/- 7 vs 7 +/- 4, p = 0.037; and 31 +/- 8 vs 19 +/- 10, p = 0.0088, respectively). No differences in lactase activity were noted between groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)