Regional alterations in intestinal sucrase expression in streptozocin-treated chronically diabetic rats

In ad libitum-fed diabetic rats, sucrase specific activities in jejunum and ileum were significantly increased two- to threefold compared to controls, a response unaltered by pair-feeding. Gradients of sucrase activities along the ileal villus-to-crypt axis were readily measured in crypt regions in diabetic, but not in nondiabetic, rats. Changes in sucrase activities were commensurate with increases in sucrase immunoreactivity and not a result of altered functional activity. Insulin treatment reversed these effects, although insulin-deficiency, studied in food-deprived, nondiabetic rats, did not affect sucrase expression. We conclude that chronic diabetes significantly stimulates sucrase expression along the proximal-to-distal and villus-to-crypt axes of rat small intestine. In ileum, these changes suggest marked alterations in phenotypic development of enterocytes along the villus-to-crypt axis. Alterations in sucrase expression do not appear to correlate with insulin states and are not a consequence of altered functional activity.