Volume 89, Issue 5, May (2003), pp. 573-580 © The Author 2003
doi:10.1079/BJN2002823

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Na⁺/glucose co-transporter abundance and activity in the small intestine of lambs: enhancement by abomasal infusion of casein

Sameer J. Mabjeesh^*, Dafna Guy and David Sklan
Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel

 (Received 1 October 2001–Revised 30 September 2002–Accepted 7 December 2002)

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of abomasal casein infusion on glucose uptake and abundance of the Na⁺/glucose co-transporter (SGLT1) 1 in the ovine small intestine. Lambs (body weight 35 (sem 1·0) kg) were surgically fitted with abomasal infusion catheters and were fed diets containing equal portions of wheat hay and cracked maize. Lambs were infused with either 500 g water/d or with 500 g water containing 35 g casein/d. The infusion period lasted 10 d, after which lambs were killed, exsanguinated and eviscerated. Brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were prepared using mucosa from different small intestinal regions. Intake and total tract digestibility of nutrients were similar between treatments and averaged 1134, 1142 and 486 g/d and 67, 70, and 94 % for DM, organic matter and non-structural carbohydrates respectively. Crude protein (N×6·25) digestibility was 15 % greater in the casein-infused than control lambs. Glucose uptake to BBMV ranged from 101 to 337 pmol/mg protein per s along the small intestine and was greatest in the mid-section of the small intestine. In the mid-jejunum, glucose uptake was greater (P<0·07) in lambs infused with casein and averaged 120 pmol/mg protein per s compared with 68 pmol/mg protein per s in the control group. SGLT1 affinity was similar between treatments and averaged 104 μm in the different segments of the small intestine of lambs. However, lambs infused with casein exhibited similar values along the small intestine and affinity averaged 106 μm, while in the control group a greater affinity (85 μm) was measured in the mid-jejunum. SGLT1 protein abundance was correlated with glucose uptake in the BBMV in the casein-treated lambs, but not in the control group. These results suggest that glucose uptake along the small intestine of lambs is influenced by casein or its derivatives in the small intestine via SGLT1 affinity and activity at the brush border membrane, and that SGLT1 activity may be regulated by post-translational events affected by amino acids and peptides.

Keywords:
Starch digestion: Glucose transporter: Sheep