Studies of mannose metabolism and effects of long-term mannose ingestion in the mouse.

Dietary mannose is used to treat glycosylation deficient patients with mutations in phosphomannose isomerase (PMI), but there is little information on mannose metabolism in model systems. We chose the mouse as a vertebrate model. Intravenous injection of [2-3H]mannose shows rapid equilibration with the extravascular pool and clearance t(1/2) of 28 min with 95% of the label catabolized via glycolysis in <2 h. Labeled glycoproteins appear in the plasma after 30 min and increase over 3 h. Various organs incorporate [2-3H]mannose into glycoproteins with similar kinetics, indicating direct transport and utilization. Liver and intestine incorporate most of the label (75%), and the majority of the liver-derived proteins eventually appear in plasma. [2-3H]Mannose-labeled liver and intestine organ cultures secrete the majority of their labeled proteins. We also studied the long-term effects of mannose supplementation in the drinking water. It did not cause bloating, diarrhea, abnormal behavior, weight gain or loss, or increase in hemoglobin glycation. Organ weights, histology, litter size, and growth of pups were normal. Water intake of mice given 20% mannose in their water was reduced to half compared to other groups. Mannose in blood increased up to 9-fold (from 100 to 900 microM) and mannose in milk up to 7-fold (from 75 to 500 microM). [2-3H]Mannose clearance, organ distribution, and uptake kinetics and hexose content of glycoproteins in organs were similar in mannose-supplemented and non-supplemented mice. Mannose supplements had little effect on the specific activity of phosphomannomutase (Man-6-P<-->Man-1-P) in different organs, but specific activity of PMI in brain, intestine, muscle, heart and lung gradually increased <2-fold with increasing mannose intake. Thus, long-term mannose supplementation does not appear to have adverse effects on mannose metabolism and mice safely tolerate increased mannose with no apparent ill effects.