Intestinal Enzyme Activities in Germfree, Conventional, and Gnotobiotic Rats Associated with Indigenous Microorganisms

Various enzyme activities involved in the active transport system, glycolysis, and digestion were assayed in various parts of the gastrointestinal tracts of germfree, conventional, and gnotobiotic rats associated with indigenous bacteria. The activity levels of alkaline phosphatase, glucose 6-phosphatase, adenosine triphosphatase, and disaccharidases in the upper small intestine were highest in all parts of the gastrointestinal tracts of various kinds of gnotobiotic, conventional, and germfree rats. Alkaline phosphatase, glucose 6-phosphatase, and adenosine triphosphatase activities in the upper small intestine of germfree rats were, respectively, 2.3-, 2.9-, and 1.7-fold higher than those in conventional rats. Similar to the results of these enzymes, sucrase, maltase, trehalase, and lactase activities in the upper small intestine of germfree rats were, respectively, 1.6-, 1.5-, 2.3-, and 1.8-fold higher than those in conventional rats. In various gnotobiotic rats, enzyme activity levels were intermediate between those in germfree and conventional rats. These findings suggest that those enzymatic activities are strongly depressed by the association with the indigenous microorganisms in the epithelial mucosa of the upper small intestine of rats. The levels of pyruvate kinase, hexokinase, and lactate dehydrogenase activities were highest, respectively, in the stomach, cecum, and the upper small intestine and cecum in all parts of the gastrointestinal tracts in various kinds of gnotobiotic, conventional, and germfree rats. It was also shown that six kinds of gastrointestinal bacteria, including lactobacilli, significantly depressed the enzyme activity levels to levels between those of the germfree and conventional rats in the upper small intestine of gnotobiotic rats.