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Effect of Dietary Carbohydrates on Intestinal Disaccharidases in Germfree and Conventional Rats¹

Lobund Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana

The effects of various dietary carbohydrates on intestinal maltase, invertase, trehalase, lactase and cellobiase were studied in intestinal homogenates of germfree and conventional rats fed chemically defined, water-soluble diets containing either glucose, maltose, sucrose or lactose. In all dietary treatments, germfree rats showed higher disaccharidase levels than conventional rats. Lactose in the diet in comparison with glucose increased lactase and cellobiase activities at 30 days of age in both germfree and conventional rats. In 60-day-old conventional rats, lactose in the diet had a slight but not significant effect on lactase activity. Maltose in the diet increased maltase and trehalase levels compared with other dietary treatments in both germfree and conventional rats. A sucrose-containing diet increased invertase activity significantly in conventional rats and slightly but not significantly in germfree rats. Disaccharidase levels in germfree rats raised from birth with a glucose diet were comparable to those weaned from mother's milk and fed a glucose diet subsequently. These results indicate that changes in disaccharidase levels caused by feeding different disaccharides occur independently of the intestinal microflora.

Manuscript received 1 February 1968.