Expression of brush border enzymes in ethanol fed rat intestine.

The effect of feeding ethanol daily for 40 days was studied on various brush border enzymes in rat intestine. Brush border alkaline phosphatase (AP), lactase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GTP), p-nitrophenyl (PNP)-beta-D-galactosidase (P < 0.01) and sucrase (P < 0.001) were significantly enhanced while leucine aminopeptidase and PNP-beta-D-glucosidase activities were unaltered in ethanol fed rats compared to the controls. Kinetic studies revealed that an increase in Vmax together with a decrease in affinity in case of gamma-GTP and an increase in Vmax for AP and sucrase were responsible for the observed stimulation of enzyme activities in ethanol administered rats. Significant changes in enzyme activities were observed in different populations of enterocytes along the crypt-villus unit in the ethanol fed animals. These observations suggest that ethanol feeding modifies the brush border enzymes in rat intestine but the underlying mechanisms seem to be distinct in differentiating enterocytes.