Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine and describe the age-related changes in intestinal brush border membrane enzyme activities that occur in C57Bl/6 mice. Specifically, jejunal, duodenal, and ileal dipeptidyl peptidase IV/CD26, disaccharidase (lactase, sucrase, and maltase), and alkaline phosphatase activities were determined. A significant correlation between analyzed intestinal brush border membrane enzyme activities and animal age was found. Our study revealed that intestinal dipeptidyl peptidase IV/CD26, lactase, sucrase, maltase, and alkaline phosphatase activities decline significantly with age (p < .05). Nevertheless, the horizontal (duodenum to ileum) enzyme activity patterns are not affected by age.
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, scientific project number 0062045. The authors gratefully acknowledge Professor Zeljko Kucan for critical reading of the manuscript and for his very valuable suggestions. They thank Mrs. Dolores Kovacic for the excellent technical assistance.
Notes
Note. Data are expressed as mean±standard deviation. n = 6–8 mice per group.