Postnatal development of lamb intestinal digestive enzymes is not regulated by diet

1. Change in digestive enzyme activities determined biochemically in brush-border membrane vesicles and cytochemically in isolated villi of lamb proximal intestine has been related to diet, intestinal structure and rumen development during the first 10 weeks of postnatal life. 2. Lactase activity halved, dipeptidylpeptidase IV activity doubled and aminopeptidase N and alkaline phosphatase activities remained constant during this period of development. Maintaining lambs on a milk replacer diet for 5 weeks after birth had no effect on this pattern of postnatal change in digestive enzyme activities. 3. Structural changes accompanying these selective effects on enzyme expression included a halving of villus height and a doubling of villus width. Villus surface area remained unaffected by these changes in height and width of villi. Crypt depth doubled during the first 10 weeks of postnatal life. Maintaining lambs on a milk replacer diet for 5 weeks did not affect this pattern of change in intestinal structure. 4. It appears from these results that postnatal decrease in lactase and increase in dipeptidylpeptidase IV activities are not regulated by factors such as diet, rumen development, or changes in intestinal structure. Attention is drawn to differences encountered between these results and a postnatal modification of glucose transport which clearly is dependent on diet.