Effects of starvation and refeeding on jejunal disaccharidase activity

In the rat, starvation lowers jejunal sucrase activity and increases or has no effect upon jejunal lactase activity. The mechanism by which starvation influences these intrinsic microvillus proteins remains unclear. Jejunal sucrase and lactase activities were studied during starvation or refeeding after a three-day fast. Using polyclonal monospecific antibodies, sucrase-isomaltase (SI) and lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) protein contents were measured in parallel to determine changes in enzyme activation. Sucrase activity and SI protein fell after two and three days of fasting and rose during refeeding. In contrast, lactase activity and jejunal LPH content increased after starvation and decreased after refeeding for 48 hr. For both enzymes, changes in catalytic activity and protein content occurred in parallel. [3H]Leucine incorporation studies in vivo showed more labeling of immunoprecipitable LPH than SI during starvation, but refeeding induced relatively more labeling of SI than of LPH. Therefore, starvation and refeeding produce opposing effects upon jejunal lactase and sucrase activities by modulating LPH and SI protein production and not by modifying enzyme activation.