HORMONAL-REGULATION OF THE RAT SMALL-INTESTINE - RESPONSIVENESS OF VILLUS AND CRYPT CELLS TO INSULIN DURING THE SUCKLING PERIOD AND UNRESPONSIVENESS AFTER WEANING

To further document the effect of insulin on intestinal maturation, suckling rats were treated either with exogenous insulin (12.5 mU g body wt, intraperitoneally, twice daily) or with saline from d 8 to 12 postpartum. Sucrase activity in brush border membrane extracts was precociously induced by insulin, whereas the activities of other brush border membrane enzymes (maltase, amino-peptidase, and neutral lactase) were enhanced (+30 to +131%, p < 0.01 versus controls). The lysosomal enzyme, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, which normally declines at weaning was significantly (p < 0.025) decreased in both villus (-51%) and crypt cells (-57%) isolated from the jejunum of insulin-treated rats. The microsomal enzyme, sulfatase C, and the cytosolic enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase, were also sensitive to insulin with decreases in activity ranging from -37 to -63% (p < 0.05) compared to saline-treated control rats. Insulin at doses of 0.5 or 12.5 mU did not influence plasma total corticosterone levels, which were about 9-fold lower in suckling than in 25-d-old weaned rats. In weaned rats (from d 25 to 32) insulin treatment (12.5 mU) failed to influence the activity of brush border membrane hydrolases or of lysosomal, microsomal, and cytosolic enzymes. The synthesis rate of mature sucrase-isomaltase, measured in weaned rats (32 d) by the incorporation of 14C-leucine into the enzyme precursor protein, was equivalent in both groups. These data demonstrate that the immature enterocyte of the suckling rat is responsive to insulin, whereas the mature enterocyte of the weaned rat is unresponsive. The effect of insulin on the intestinal cell appears not to be mediated via an endogenous stimulation of corticosterone release. © 1990 International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.