Perinatal changes in activity of lysosomal glycosidases in rat colon

Four acid glycosidases have been studied in the colon from developing rats: beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, beta-galactosidase, alpha-fucosidase, and beta-glucuronidase. These four enzymes exhibit substantial changes in specific activity during maturation from fetus to adult. Further, the location of maximal enzyme activity changes from proximal to distal colon during development. Whereas 1- to 8-day-old suckling rats exhibited higher enzyme specific activities in the proximal than in the distal colon (1.2- to 4.9-fold higher), the adult rat colonic glycosidases always were higher in specific activity in the distal than in the proximal colon (1.2- to 1.3-fold higher, except 1.9-fold higher for beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase). The gradient of enzyme activity along the colon length changed more in sucklings than in adults. Whereas the activity only varied 1.3- to 3.0-fold along the length of the adult rat colon, variation of 2.3- to 10-fold occurred in different segments of the suckling rat colon.