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Absorption of Carbohydrates in Malnourished Rats¹

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baltimore, Maryland 21201 and Rosewood State Hospital, Research Department, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117

The effects of protein and protein-calorie malnutrition on the absorption of carbohydrates were studied in rats, by perfusion of intestinal segments in vivo using polyethylene glycol as a marker. Three types of diets were fed to 80-g male Wistar rats for 1 to 4 weeks: 1) CTL — 18% protein, 70% carbohydrates and 8% fat; 2) LPR — the same feeding with only 4% protein; and 3) LPC — low protein (4%) and low carbohydrate (45%). Failure to gain weight and hypoproteinemia were induced in the malnourished rats. The LPR and LPC rats had an increased intestinal transport of glucose compared to the CTL animals when this carbohydrate was perfused at a concentration of 69.5 and 139 mM after 14 days of the special diet. The apparent K_m for glucose was 0.198 M for the LPR and 0.209 M for the LPC rats, as compared to 0.388 M for the CTL animals. However, LPR and LPC rats absorbed fructose and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose at a rate similar to CTL animals, suggesting that the intestine of malnourished rats utilized glucose at a higher rate. This increase did not occur after 7 and 28 days on the diet. The transport of sodium and water varied in the same direction as the transport of glucose. The transport of sucrose and maltose and the intestinal disaccharidase specific activity of the small intestine were not altered.

KEY WORDS: • malnutrition • intestinal absorption • carbohydrates • disaccharidases

¹ Supported in part by USPHS, NIH Grant HD 03959-03 and the John A. Hartford Foundation.

^* Present address: North Shore Hospital Department of Pediatrics and Cornell University, Manhasset, N. Y. 11030.

Manuscript received 13 December 1971.