Effect of a single oral dose of pp'DDT on the absorption of nutrients in vitro and on brush border enzymes in rat intestine.

The effect of a single oral dose of pp'DDT (100 mg/kg body wt.) has been studied on the intestinal uptake of certain nutrients and on brush border enzymes in rats. Intestinal uptake of leucine, and phenylalanine was considerably increased but there was no change in the absorption of glucose and alanine in DDT fed rats, compared to controls. The activities of brush border sucrase, alkaline phosphatase and Na+, K+-ATPase were significantly depressed in pesticide treated animals, but leucine aminopeptidase levels remained unaffected under these conditions. Analysis of the chemical composition of the microvillus membranes revealed a considerable enhancement in total lipids, phospholipids and triglyceride contents of the membranes in DDT exposed rats, but membrane protein, sialic acid and cholesterol fractions did not record any change. 1-14C-acetate incorporation into various lipid classes was studied to explain the observed increase in membrane lipids in DDT exposed animals.