Intestinal disaccharidases in the rat: effects of pregnancy and diabetes

Specific and total activities of lactase, sucrase and maltase were determined in the mucosa scraped from the proximal, mid and distal intestinal segments of nonpregnant and pregnant normal control and diabetic rats. In control rats, pregnancy was accompanied by a significant rise in total lactase activity of the entire intestinal mucosa. This was due to increased specific activity of the enzyme in the mid segment of the pregnant rats. In both nonpregnant and pregnant rats, diabetes was associated with marked enhancement of intestinal growth and with elevated specific and total activities of the three mucosal disaccharidases. In the pregnant diabetic rats, specific and total activities of the disaccharidases were about 30% lower than corresponding values in the nonpregnant diabetic rats.