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(Journal of Nutrition. 2001;131:779-786.)
© 2001 The American Society for Nutritional Sciences


Articles

Chronic but Not Acute Energy Restriction Increases Intestinal Nutrient Transport in Mice1

Ronaldo P. Ferraris2, Qing-Xue Cao and Shyam Prabhakaram

Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103-2714

2To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ferraris{at}umdnj.edu.


    ABSTRACT
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Chronic energy restriction (ER) dramatically enhances intestinal absorption of nutrients by aged mice. Do adaptations in nutrient absorption develop only after extended ER or immediately after its initiation? To determine the time course of adaptations, we measured rates of intestinal glucose, fructose and proline transport 1–270 d after initiation of ER (70% of ad libitum) in 3-mo old mice. Mice of the same age that consumed food ad libitum (AL) served as controls; a third group was starved for 1 or 2 d only, to distinguish the effects of acute ER from those of starvation. Acute ER of 1, 2 and 10 d had no effect on nutrient absorption. Starvation significantly decreased intestinal mass per centimeter, thereby reducing transport per centimeter and intestinal absorptive capacity without significantly altering transport per milligram of intestine. ER for 24 d enhanced only fructose uptake, whereas ER for 270 d enhanced uptake of all nutrients by 20–100%. Despite marked differences in body weights, the wet weights of the stomach, small intestine, cecum and large intestine were generally similar in AL and ER mice, suggesting that the gastrointestinal tract was spared during ER. In contrast, the wet weights of the lungs, kidneys, spleen, heart, pancreas and liver each differed by 40–120% between ER and AL mice. Intestinal transport adaptations develop gradually during ER, and the main mechanism underlying these adaptations is a dramatic increase in transport activity per milligram tissue.


KEY WORDS: • aging and diet • internal organs • intestines and metabolism • mice • nutrient transport


    INTRODUCTION
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Energy restriction (ER)3 to ~60–70% ad libitum (AL) intake not only prolongs the median and maximum life span in mammals, but also delays the onset of age-associated degenerative diseases and decreases in physiologic capacities, including that of the small intestine (Masoro 1992Citation , Turturro et al. 1999Citation ). ER, the only method known to date to prolong mammalian life span consistently (Weindruch 1996Citation ) is a nutritional intervention whose effects are relatively well known for certain tissues such as liver and muscle (Kim et al. 1996Citation ) but not for others, especially the small intestine. This is unfortunate because digestive and absorptive processes in the small intestine are the first step in the metabolism of nutrients. The epithelial cells of the small intestine possess the ability to respond to changing physiologic needs such as pregnancy and lactation or to pathologic stress such as diabetes (Ferraris and Diamond 1997Citation ), but the response of the small intestine to ER remains little known.

The effects on intestinal nutrient transport of a total cessation in food intake or of changes in luminal concentration of a single nutrient are well known. For example, intestinal nutrient absorption decreases dramatically with starvation; the main mechanism underlying this decrease is a reduction in intestinal mucosal mass (Diamond et al. 1984Citation ). Removal of a nonessential nutrient from the diet, and therefore from the intestinal lumen of well-fed animals, decreases the number of intestinal transporters for that nutrient (Ferraris and Diamond 1986Citation ). ER drastically decreases the amount of luminal nutrients available for absorption, but its effect on intestinal function is virtually unknown. Specific activities of intestinal enzymes were higher in rats that were energy restricted (Holt et al. 1991Citation ). In aged (24 mo old) mice that had been energy restricted since 3 mo of age, intestinal transport of sugars and several amino acids was much higher than that in same age mice with free access to food, and was comparable to that of young AL mice (Casirola et al. 1996Citation , Ferraris et al. 1993bCitation ). In this study, we determined the time course of intestinal transport adaptations to ER and monitored changes in weights of internal organs of the mice during ER to determine whether certain organs are affected by ER more than others. We also determined adaptations in intestinal uptake by mice starved for 1 and 2 d to distinguish adaptations to starvation from adaptations to short-term ER.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Animals and diets.

Male mice C57BL/6N were purchased from the National Institute on Aging (NIA, Bethesda, MD). Mice used in the first series of experiments were 4 mo old, all initially with free unlimited access to food; mice were delivered in four consecutive batches, each containing at least 22 mice. Mice used in the second series were 13-mo-old mice; half were mice with unlimited access to food since birth, and the remaining half were mice that were energy restricted since 16 wk of age. All of the mice were maintained in individual cages on a 12-h dark:light cycle (1000–2200 h dark cycle) at 25°C to make their feeding times as similar as possible. If the light:dark cycle were not reversed, rodents allowed free access to food would eat most of their food in the dark (Ferraris et al. 1990Citation ), whereas ER mice would be fed during normal daytime working hours.

In the first experimental series, the four batches were each divided randomly into three groups as follows: control mice with unlimited access to food (AL mice); energy-restricted mice fed 30% (by weight) less than AL mice (ER mice); and mice starved for 1 or 2 d (ST mice). All three groups of mice had free access to distilled water until killed for nutrient uptake or organ weight measurements 1, 2, 10 and 24 d after the start of energy restriction in the case of AL and ER mice, or 1 and 2 d after the start of starvation in the case of ST mice. Before the start of energy restriction, the body weight was stabilized for ~7 d after receipt of mice from the NIA.

Series 2 mice were delivered in two batches when they were 12 mo of age; they were used to determine the effect of prolonged ER on intestinal nutrient uptake. Mice in series 2 were purchased from the NIA already energy-restricted. These mice and their AL littermates were shipped overnight to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) 8 mo after energy restriction, and energy restriction was continued at UMDNJ for an additional 30 d before mice were killed.

All mice (except starved groups) were fed the complete, sterile, commercially available diets (NIH-31; composition in percentage by weight; crude protein, 18 analyzed; carbohydrates, 76.5 estimated; fats, 4.12 analyzed; energy content, 18.2 kJ/kg). The detailed composition of this diet was described by Eiam-Ong and Sabatini (1999)Citation . Although the ER group received only 3 g/d of this diet, they received the same amount of vitamins and minerals as the AL group because the modified NIH-31 diet for ER mice was supplemented with essential micronutrients in a proportion that compensated for the degree of the dietary restriction used. The 3 g/d feeding rate for ER mice, which is typically 70% of the daily feeding rate of AL mice, is an accepted procedure at the NIA and defines ER in this study. Preweighed 3-g pellets provided by the NIA with each shipment were used in feeding both series 1 and 2 ER mice in the laboratory. The feeding rate in the AL group of all batches of mice was monitored twice each week.

Mice were killed 1, 2, 10, 24 (series 1 mice) and 270 d (series 2 mice) after ER began. To minimize the effect of the experimental variation on comparisons, uptake measurements were matched, i.e., one mouse from the AL group, one from the ER group and one from the ST (for d 1 and 2 only) group were killed for each uptake experiment for a total of 6–9 experiments per time point. Moreover, to determine the effect of energy restriction on the weight of internal organs and to minimize the effect of unexpected mortality on uptake experiments, a larger number of mice than that used eventually for uptake experiments were energy restricted or starved. Mice were anesthetized with an overdose of pentobarbital sodium and then killed. The entire small intestine was quickly removed and flushed with ice-cold Ringer’s solution. After being blotted dry with a moist (with saline) paper towel, the small intestine’s length and weight were measured. The most proximal, middle and distal 3-cm segments were used for the preparation of everted sleeves. The other internal organs were subsequently removed, blotted dry and weighed. Mice not used for uptake experiments were also underwent dissection and their internal organs weighed. The methods described in this study were approved by the UMDNJ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Nutrient uptake measurements.

Glucose, fructose and proline transport rates were determined according to the method of (Karasov and Diamond 1983Citation ). We chose these nutrients because their transport rates were greatly affected by ER (Casirola et al. 1996 and 1997Citation Citation ). The isolated small intestine was flushed with cold Ringer’s solution (composition in mmol/L: 128 NaCl, 4.7 KCl, 2.5 CaCl2, 2.2 KH2PO4, 1.2 MgSO4, and 20 NaHCO3; pH 7.3–7.4) bubbled with 95%O2-5%CO2. Each everted sleeve, 1 cm long, was mounted on a grooved steel rod (3-mm diameter), and preincubated in Ringer’s solution at 37°C for 5 min. Then they were switched into the oxygenated solution containing D-[14C]glucose, D-[14C]fructose and L-[3H]proline for 1, 2 and 2 min incubations, respectively, which are long enough to allow sufficient amounts of labeled substrates to enter the epithelial cells.

Sleeves incubated in glucose or fructose solutions were rinsed for 20 s in 25 mL ice-cold Ringer’s solution to reduce the radioactive label in the adherent fluid. L-[3H]glucose was used to simultaneously correct for adherent fluid and for passive diffusion of glucose or fructose (Karasov and Diamond 1983Citation ). [14C]Polyethylene glycol (molecular weight 4000) was used to correct for 3H-proline in the adherent fluid. Hence, both mediated D-sugar uptake and total (mediated plus diffusive) amino acid transport were measured in this study. All of the radioisotopes were obtained from Du Pont-NEN (Boston, MA). The transport rates of D-glucose, D-fructose and L-proline were determined at 50 mmol/L, a concentration that yields the Vmax and therefore not significantly affected by unstirred layers (Karasov and Diamond 1983Citation ).

Uptake results were expressed per milligram of small intestine to detect specific changes in rates of transport, as well as per centimeter small intestine to determine changes in total absorptive capacity for a given nutrient. Uptakes were determined in the proximal, middle and distal intestinal regions. Uptake per small intestine of a nutrient was calculated by integrating D-glucose, D-fructose or L-proline uptake per centimeter along the length of the small intestine as previously described (Casirola et al. 1996Citation ).

Statistical analysis.

For organ and body weights, a two-way ANOVA testing for the effects of ER and duration of ER was conducted. The effects of ER and intestinal region on uptake rate were also analyzed by two-way ANOVA. Interactions between diet and duration of ER are mentioned only if significant at P < 0.05. Because duration of starvation was for 1 and 2 d only, a one-way ANOVA was used to test for the effects of ER (for all time intervals) and starvation (d 1 and 2 only) on the following: 1) body weight, organ weight and intestinal uptake capacity at each time interval, and 2) uptakes per milligram and per centimeter at each time interval and intestinal region. When the one-way ANOVA was significant for d 1 and 2, a post-hoc Fisher’s Protected Least Significant Difference test was used to determine which means were significantly different (P < 0.05) from each other (StatView, Cary, NC).


    RESULTS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Body weight and feeding rate.

The mean body weight varied significantly with diet (P < 0.0001 by two-way ANOVA) and time after ER (P < 0.0001, Fig. 1Citation ). Interaction between diet and time after ER was also significant (P < 0.0001). Although initial body weights did not differ (P = 0.90 by one-way ANOVA), there were already marked effects of diet 1 (P = 0.014) and 2 (P = 0.004) days after initiation of ER or starvation. After 1 d, the body weight of starved mice was 11% lower compared with AL and ER mice. After 2 d, the body weight of starved and ER mice decreased by 20 and 11%, respectively. By 10, 24 and 270 d after energy restriction, the body weight of ER mice was 17, 23 and 39% lower, respectively, than that of same age AL mice (P < 0.01). The difference between AL and ER body weights at 270 d was almost double the difference at 24 d, mainly because of the large increase in weight of AL mice. The mean feeding rate for AL mice was 4.3 ± 0.1 g/d; hence, the ER feeding rate of 3 g/d is ~70% that of AL mice.



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Figure 1. The time course of changes in body weight in mice consuming food ad libitum (AL), energy-restricted (ER) or starved (ST) used in the uptake experiments. Time is expressed as days after start of ER. Bars represent the mean ± SEM. Day 0, n = 9 each for AL, ER and ST; d 1, n = 8 each for AL, ER and ST; d 2, n = 9 for AL and ER, n = 8 for ST; d 10, n = 6 for AL and ER; and d 24, n = 8 for AL and ER. These are series 1 mice and energy restriction was done in our animal facility. Day 270, n = 8 each for AL and ER. These are series 2 mice and ~8 mo of energy restriction occurred at the National Institute on Aging facility and 1 mo of energy restriction in our facility. *Significantly different from that of AL mice at the same time point (P < 0.05 by one-way ANOVA followed by Fisher’s Protected Least Significant Difference test). ER mice were fed 3 g/d, an amount 30% less than that consumed by AL mice. Changes in body weight of mice used only for organ weight measurements were similar to those used for uptake measurements and are not shown. Mean body weights of mice used for uptake experiments were shown because these were also used for calculations of values in Table 1Citation .

 

    Organ weights
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Gastrointestinal tract.

In general, the weights of organs of the gastrointestinal tract were affected only modestly or not at all by ER (Fig. 2Citation ). By two-way ANOVA, there was no effect of ER (P = 0.68) or duration of ER (P = 0.12) on stomach weight. There was also no effect of diet on stomach weight after 1 (P = 0.76 by one-way ANOVA) or 2 (P = 0.79) days. After 270 d, however, the stomach of ER mice was 25% heavier than that of AL mice (P < 0.05).



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Figure 2. The time course of changes in wet weight of organs in the gastrointestinal tract of mice consuming food ad libitum (AL), energy-restricted (ER) or starved (ST). Weights include those of mice used in uptake experiments and those used solely for organ weight measurements. Only those organs where food passes through the lumen are shown. The acute effect of starvation (d 1 and 2) and ER (d 1, 2, 10, 24 and 270) on weight was analyzed by a one-way ANOVA [*significant difference (P < 0.05) between AL (control) and ST or ER groups]. Symbols represent the mean ± SEM. The numbers of observations per time point (presented in the order 1, 2, 10, 24 and 270 d for AL and ER; 1 and 2 d for ST) are as follows. Stomach, n = 6, 13, 8, 8 and 6 for AL; n = 6, 9, 6, 6 and 6 for ER; n = 7 and 8 for ST. Small intestine, n = 14, 15, 14, 15 and 20 for AL and ER; n = 12 and 8 for ST. Cecum, n = 6, 12, 6, 8 and 6 for AL; n = 6, 11, 6, 6 and 6 for ER; n = 7 and 8 for ST. Large intestine, n = 12, 19, 15, 14 and 19 for AL; n = 12, 16, 11, 12 and 18 for ER; n = 12 and 8 for ST.

 
The total weight of the small intestine varied with diet (P < 0.01 by two-way ANOVA, Fig. 2Citation ) and duration of ER (P < 0.01). By 270 d after initiation of ER, the small intestine weight of AL mice was only ~12% greater than that of ER mice (P < 0.05 by one-way ANOVA), mainly because small intestine weight in AL mice increased by 15% over the initial value. As would be expected, total intestine weight decreased with starvation, particularly 2 d after cessation of food intake (P < 0.001). This decrease was not due to decreases in intestinal length but to decreases in average weight per centimeter of intestine. Intestinal lengths at d 1 were not significantly different among the three diet groups (P = 0.83): 33.3 ± 3.5, 32.3 ± 3.0 and 31.9 ± 1.9 cm for AL, ER and ST mice, respectively. On d 2, intestinal lengths also did not differ among treatment groups (P = 0.19): 30.9 ± 2.1, 30.5 ± 1.8 and 34.8 ± 4.5 cm for AL, ER and ST mice, respectively. Weight per centimeter did not differ on d 1 (36.0 ± 3.5 for AL, 38.4 ± 3.2 for ER, and 32.9 ± 1.1 mg/cm for ST mice) but differed markedly (P < 0.01) 2 d after ER (35.9 ± 1.9, 37.1 ± 1.4 and 27.8 ± 2.3 mg/cm, respectively) when the value in ST mice was less than in the other 2 groups.

There was no effect of ER (P = 0.70 by two-way ANOVA), but there was a modest effect of experimental duration (P = 0.04) on the weight of the cecum (Fig. 2)Citation . After 24 d, cecal weight was less in ER than in AL mice (P = 0.04).

The weight of the large intestine varied with diet (P = 0.03 by two-way ANOVA) and experimental duration (P < 0.0001). Colon weight in both AL and ER mice increased markedly with experimental duration (P < 0.0001), although weights in AL mice were ~10% greater than those of ER mice at 10, 24 and 270 d (P = 0.15, 0.04 and 0.16, respectively, Fig. 2Citation ). There was no effect of a 1- or 2-d starvation period on the weight of the large intestine (P > 0.40).

Other organs.

In general, there were marked differences between AL and ER mice in weights of organs not located along the gastrointestinal tract (Fig. 3Citation ). The combined weight of the two kidneys varied with duration (P = 0.04 by two-way ANOVA) and diet (P < 0.0001). Within 10 d after ER, there was already an ~20% ER-related difference in kidney weight, a difference that magnified to 35% at 270 d after ER. The interaction between diet and duration was significant (P = 0.03). The weight of the kidneys was not affected by starvation of 1 (P = 0.76) or 2 (P = 0.54) days.



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Figure 3. The time course of changes in wet weight of organs not located along the gastrointestinal tract of mice consuming food ad libitum (AL), energy-restricted (ER) or starved (ST). Although the liver and pancreas are part of the gastrointestinal system, they do not come in direct contact with food. Statistical analysis was similar to that of Figure 2Citation ; *significant difference (P < 0.05) between AL (control) and ST or ER groups. Symbols represent the mean ± SEM. The numbers of observations per time point (presented in the order 1, 2, 10, 24 and 270 d for AL and ER; 1 and 2 d for ST) are as follows. Kidneys, n = 9, 15, 8, 7 and 6 for AL; n = 6, 10, 6, 6 and 6 for ER; n = 7 and 8 for ST. Spleen, n = 6, 12, 7, 7 and 5 for AL; n = 6, 8, 6, 5 and 7 for ER; n = 7 and 8 for ST. Lungs, n = 6, 14, 6, 7 and 6 for AL; n = 6, 11, 6, 5 and 6 for ER; n = 7 and 8 for ST. Heart; n = 6, 18, 7, 6 and 6 for AL; n = 7, 13, 6, 6 and 7 for ER; n = 6 and 6 for ST. Pancreas, n = 6, 6, 8, 8 and 12 for AL and ER; n = 8 and 8 for ST. Liver, n = 15, 18, 17, 14 and 18 for AL; n = 12, 16, 13, 13 and 16 for ER; n = 12 and 8 for ST.

 
The weight of the spleen was markedly affected by diet (P < 0.0001 by two-way ANOVA) but not by experimental duration (P = 0.83). By 10 d after ER, a 70% difference in spleen weight between ER and AL mice already existed, a difference that was maintained until the end of the experiment. Starvation had no effect on spleen weight (P = 0.62 for d 1; P = 0.72 for d 2).

The combined weight of the two lungs varied with diet (P = 0.0006 by two-way ANOVA) and experimental duration (P = 0.008). The difference in weight of the lungs did not become significant until after 24 d of ER when the weight in AL mice was 20% greater than that in ER mice. By 270 d of ER, lung weight was almost 50% greater in AL than in ER mice. The interaction of duration and diet was significant (P = 0.02). There was no effect of starvation on lung weight (P = 0.84 for d 1; P = 0.45 for d 2).

The weight of the heart varied with diet (P < 0.0001 by two-way ANOVA) but not with duration (P = 0.89). There was a significant interaction between diet and duration, however (P = 0.0003), so that the magnitude of ER-related differences in the weight of the heart increased with time, from being similar on d 1 and 2 after ER, to 16% by d 10, to 36% by d 24 and eventually to 57% by d 270. There was an effect of starvation by d 2 (P = 0.02).

Two organs associated with the gastrointestinal system but not located along the gastrointestinal tract were markedly affected by ER (Fig. 3)Citation . The weight of the pancreas varied with duration (P = 0.0003 by two-way ANOVA) and ER (P < 0.0001). From d 10 to 270, the pancreas weight was 30% less in ER than in AL mice. The interaction between experimental duration and diet was significant (P = 0.0008). Starvation markedly reduced the weight of the pancreas (P < 0.001).

Liver weight varied with both diet (P < 0.0001 by two-way ANOVA) and duration (P < 0.0001). The liver weight increased with experimental duration in AL mice but decreased with duration in ER mice, so that after 10 mo of ER, liver weights in AL mice were more than twice those of ER mice. Starvation periods of 1 and 2 d resulted in marked reductions in liver weight (P < 0.001).


    Nutrient uptake
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
After 1 d of ER or starvation, there was no effect of dietary treatment on glucose, fructose or proline (P > 0.30 by two-way ANOVA) uptake per milligram tissue or per centimeter intestine (not shown). For glucose and fructose uptake per milligram and per centimeter, the effect of intestinal region was significant at all time points (P < 0.001), and ER had no effect on the proximodistal gradient of intestinal sugar transport. Proline uptake per milligram was either independent of or only modestly dependent on intestinal region (P < 0.05) in both AL and ER mice. Hence, the significance of regional effects from two-way ANOVA is not described below.

After 2 d, there was a significant effect of dietary treatment on glucose, fructose and proline uptake per centimeter (P < 0.001 by two-way ANOVA, Fig. 4Citation ). For fructose uptake per centimeter, there was an interaction between diet and intestinal region (P = 0.04). Most of the decrease occurred in the proximal and middle intestinal regions of starved mice (P < 0.05 by one-way ANOVA). Unlike uptake per centimeter, glucose (P = 0.09, by two-way ANOVA), fructose (P = 0.47) and proline (P = 0.67) uptake per milligram was independent of dietary treatment, indicating that the effect of starvation was mainly on the amount of intestinal tissue per centimeter, as previously described.



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Figure 4. Glucose, fructose and proline transport per centimeter intestine by everted sleeves from different small intestinal regions of mice consuming food ad libitum (AL), starved (ST) or energy-restricted (ER) for 2 d. Bars represent the mean ± SEM, (n = 9 for AL and ER; n = 8 for ST). Pro, proximal; mid, middle; and dis, distal intestinal regions. *Significantly different (P < 0.05) from control (AL), within a region (one-way ANOVA followed by Fisher’s Protected Least Significant Difference test).

 
Ten days after initiation of ER, glucose, fructose and proline uptake per milligram and uptake per centimeter did not vary with ER (P > 0.30, by two-way ANOVA, not shown). Even after 24 d, there still was no effect of ER on glucose and proline uptake per milligram tissue (not shown) or per centimeter intestine (Fig. 5Citation ). However, fructose uptake per milligram and per centimeter (P < 0.01, by two-way ANOVA, Fig. 5Citation ) increased significantly with ER because fructose uptake almost doubled in the proximal small intestine.



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Figure 5. Glucose, fructose and proline transport per centimeter intestine by everted intestinal sleeves of mice consuming food ad libitum (AL) or energy-restricted (ER) for 24 d. Pro, proximal; mid, middle; and dis, distal intestinal regions. Bars represent the mean ± SEM, (n = 8). *Significantly different (P < 0.05) from control (AL), within a region (one-way ANOVA).

 
By d 270 of ER, glucose uptake per milligram (P = 0.05, by two-way ANOVA, not shown) increased and per centimeter (P = 0.07, Fig. 6Citation ) tended to increase with ER. Fructose uptake per milligram and per centimeter was also greater (P < 0.001 by two-way ANOVA) in ER mice. Fructose uptake was greater in ER than in AL mice in all intestinal regions. Proline uptake per milligram and per centimeter also varied significantly with diet (P < 0.0001). Proline uptake in ER mice was greater than that in control mice in the middle and distal intestinal regions.



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Figure 6. The effect of energy restriction for 270 d on glucose, fructose and proline transport per centimeter intestinal tissue in mice consuming food ad libitum (AL) or energy-restricted (ER). Bars represent the mean ± SEM, (n = 8). *Significantly different (P < 0.05) from control (AL), within a region (one-way ANOVA). +Uptake per centimeter was not different (P = 0.06–0.09) but uptake per milligram was different (P < 0.05) from AL.

 
Uptake capacity.

Two days after initiation of starvation, total intestinal glucose (P = 0.02 by one-way ANOVA), fructose (P = 0.001) and proline (P = 0.0003) uptake capacity each decreased dramatically in starved mice (Fig. 7Citation ). Intestinal absorptive capacity for glucose, fructose and proline did not change with an ER duration of 1, 2 and 10 d. Intestinal fructose, but not glucose or proline, uptake capacity increased markedly with ER for 24 d (P = 0.01). However, after 270 d of ER, intestinal glucose (P = 0.04), proline (P = 0.0001) and fructose (P = 0.004) uptake capacities increased markedly.



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Figure 7. The time course of changes in total intestinal uptake capacity for glucose, fructose and proline in mice consuming food ad libitum (AL), starved (ST) or energy-restricted (ER). Total intestinal uptake was estimated from uptake per centimeter and expressed as µmol/min. Bars represent mean ± SEM. Day 1, n = 8 each for AL, ER and ST; d 2, n = 9 for AL and ER, n = 8 for ST; d 10, n = 6 for AL and ER; d 24, n = 8 for AL and ER; and d 270, n = 8 each for AL and ER. Time is expressed as days after start of ER. *Significantly different (P < 0.05) from that of AL mice at the same time point.

 

    DISCUSSION
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Effects of energy restriction on organ weights.

Although ER leads to modest decreases in body weight and prevents age-related increases in body weight induced by AL consumption, there has been no report on how weights of internal organs are affected. Rat epididymal and retroperitoneal fat pads decreased modestly (~10%) in weight with a brief ER lasting for 20 d, but decreased markedly (~80%) with chronic ER lasting for 15 mo (Dean and Cartee 1996Citation ). Our results indicate that in mice, weights of internal organs not along the gastrointestinal tract decreased with ER. The time course of the diet-related change in weight also varied among these organs. In the kidneys, spleen, lungs and heart, the diet-related difference in weight was observed after 10 d of ER, when body weight of ER mice became significantly less than that of AL mice. Acute starvation for 1–2 d had no effect on the weight of these organs. In contrast, weight loss in the pancreas and liver occurred quite rapidly and seemed directly related to the amount of food being processed, so that weight loss was moderate with acute (1–2 d) ER, but severe with starvation. After 2 d of starvation, decreases in combined weights of the stomach, liver and small intestine, although significant, constituted only a small fraction (~10%) of the loss in body weight. In passerine birds, starvation also markedly decreased weights of these organs, but the lost weight constituted a larger fraction of the loss in body weight (Karasov and Pinshow 1998Citation ).

It is not clear why the gastrointestinal tract was "spared" during ER. In fact, chronic ER even led to larger stomachs. Starvation decreased intestinal mass in parallel with a decrease in body weight, whereas chronic ER led to decreases in body weight with relatively modest effects on intestinal structure. There was no (Casirola et al. 1997Citation ) or little (Casirola et al. 1996Citation ) ER-induced decrease in villous height, mucosal mass or intestinal mass. The number of cells on the villous columns was similar in AL and ER mice (Koga and Kimura 1978Citation ), although the number of proliferative cells and the rate of cell proliferation decreased (Koga and Kimura 1980Citation , Lok et al. 1988Citation ). The ER-induced decrease in proliferation rate led to decreases in enterocyte migration rate and enterocyte life span; consequently, cells stayed on the villus for a longer time. It is possible that energy restriction reduced cell turnover throughout the gastrointestinal tract without affecting its gross anatomy.


    Intestinal transport adaptation to energy restriction is a gradual process
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Our results and those of Casirola et al. (1996 and 1997)Citation Citation suggest that the effect of ER develops gradually over time. The difference between absorption rates in ER and AL mice is due mainly to increases associated with prolonged ER rather than to decreases associated with prolonged AL consumption and aging. ER has no effect on intestinal anatomy and weight; hence, its effect on nutrient uptake expressed per milligram of tissue or per centimeter of intestine is the same. In contrast, the effect of acute starvation is mainly a rapid decrease in transport per centimeter of gut, with little effect on transport per milligram.

The effects of ER may be better compared with those of semistarvation or malnutrition rather than those of total starvation because the former conditions allow for partial feeding (Ferraris and Carey 2000Citation ). Under the conditions of semistarvation or malnutrition, glucose transport per milligram in brush border membrane vesicles increased approximately twofold over that in well-fed rabbits and rats (Brot-Laroche et al. 1988Citation , Butzner et al. 1990Citation , Gupta and Waheed 1992Citation , Marciani et al. 1987Citation ). However, the time course of the effects of semistarvation and malnutrition was generally rapid, occurring over hours and days instead of months and years as is the case for ER.

Age may be a potential factor in intestinal adaptations to ER. In young, (3 mo old) mice (this study), 24 d of ER resulted in increases in fructose transport. In contrast, in aged (24 mo old) mice, 30 d of ER had no effect on the transport of fructose or that of any other nutrient (Casirola et al. 1996Citation ). Age has also been shown to impair the ability of the gut to alter absorption rates in response to drastic changes in composition of the diet (Ferraris and Vinnakota 1993Citation ). When ER aged mice are switched to AL consumption for 1 mo, intestinal nutrient transport decreases dramatically (Casirola et al. 1997Citation ). Hence, a short duration of AL consumption abolishes the effects of lifelong ER on intestinal nutrient transport by aged mice.


    Intestinal uptake capacity and metabolic mass
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
How do these changes in uptake rates and absorptive capacity relate to changes in body weight (BW)? Because metabolism changes as BW0.75, we expressed uptake capacity according to the following equation:

(1)

where IW represents intestinal weight. This equation apportions the change in intestinal absorptive capacity normalized to metabolic body weight ({Sigma}J/BW0.75) to either of two major mechanisms, i.e., a change in amount of intestine relative to body weight (IW/BW0.75) or to a change in the ability of intestine to absorb nutrients ({Sigma}J/IW). A detailed derivation and a discussion of the subdivisions of each major mechanism can be found in Ferraris and Diamond (1997)Citation . After 270 d of ER, intestinal uptake capacity normalized to metabolic weight ({Sigma}J/BW0.75) for glucose, fructose or proline was 75–120% greater in ER than that in AL mice (Table 1Citation ). Similar results were obtained in mice that were energy-restricted for 20 mo (Casirola et al. 1996Citation ). This suggests that chronic ER leads to intestinal adaptations that allow more nutrients to be absorbed per unit metabolic body weight.


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Table 1. Estimated physiologic and anatomical contributions to total intestinal absorptive capacity for glucose, fructose and proline in mice consuming food ad libitum (AL) or energy-restricted (ER)1

 
The so-called anatomical factor (IW/BW0.75) was virtually the same between ER and AL mice, suggesting that changes in metabolic body weight were accompanied by proportionally similar changes in intestinal weight.

Because ER has modest effects on the factor (IW/BW0.75), the changes in uptake capacity/g0.75 must be due to changes in the so-called physiologic factor ({Sigma}J/IW), which increased by 35% (for glucose) or 75% (fructose or proline) after 270 d of ER. This means that more nutrients are absorbed by ER mice by the same amount of intestinal tissue, as previously observed in mice that were energy restricted for 20 mo (Casirola et al. 1997Citation ).

These physiologic and anatomical contributions to intestinal adaptation vary depending on the factor inducing the adaptation. In obese mice whose metabolic body weights are 56% greater than those of lean littermates, there is a 55% increase in IW/BW0.75 but no change in {Sigma}J/IW, a pattern opposite that of ER mice. Thus, in obese mice, an increase in nutrient absorptive capacity is due solely to increases in intestinal mass. In streptozotocin-diabetic mice, whose metabolic body weights are similar to those of control littermates, both factors increase markedly (Ferraris et al. 1993aCitation , Ferraris and Vinnakota 1995Citation ), explaining the large increase in nutrient absorptive capacity. In young adult rats, whose intestines were resected by up to 80% 1 wk before killing, there were marked increases in the weight of the remnant small intestine and a reduction in transport activity per unit intestinal weight; hence, intestinal uptake capacity was markedly lower than preresection values (O’Connor et al. 1999Citation ).


    Proximate mechanisms of adaptation
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 
Among the factors that can change the ratio ({Sigma}J/IW) for a certain nutrient are the number of transporters per cell, the ratio of absorptive to nonabsorptive cells, the turnover number (number of moles of substrate transporter per mole of transporter) of each transport site and the affinity constant of transporter for its substrate (Ferraris and Diamond 1997Citation ). The mechanism underlying the increased transport rate during chronic ER may be an increase in the ratio of absorptive to nonabsorptive cells because of decreases in enterocyte migration rate during ER (Lok et al. 1988Citation ). In rats subjected to ER, the increase in brush border sucrase activity was due to this same mechanism (Koga and Kimura 1978Citation ). In starved or protein-malnourished rats, the ratio of the density of valine transporting sites to nontransporting sites also increased (Syme and Smith 1982Citation , Thompson and Debnam 1986Citation ). Clearly, this hypothesis requires further investigation.


    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
We thank D. Casirola and A. Ritter for helpful discussions, and W. Kellam and J. Harper for excellent care of laboratory mice. We thank S. Beg, D.A. Ferraris, M.C. Ferraris, H. Tu and A. Subramanyam for help in dissecting and measuring organ weights.


    FOOTNOTES
 
1 Supported by National Institutes of Health grant no. AG11403, National Science Foundation grant no. IBN 9985808 and U.S. Department of Agriculture grant no. 95–38500. Back

3 Abbreviations used: AL, (ad libitum) consumption to satiety; BW, body weight; ER, 70% energy-restricted; IW, intestinal weight; NIA, National Institute on Aging; ST, starved; UMDNJ, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Back

Manuscript received April 19, 2000. Initial review completed May 26, 2000. Revision accepted December 6, 2000.


    REFERENCES
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 Organ weights
 Nutrient uptake
 DISCUSSION
 Intestinal transport adaptation...
 Intestinal uptake capacity and...
 Proximate mechanisms of...
 REFERENCES
 

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