Effect of exogenously administered polyamine on the structural maturation and enzyme ontogeny of the postnatal rat intestine.

The factors regulating the developmental changes in intestinal morphology and enzyme activity during the postnatal period are incompletely understood. Increased ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and polyamine levels occur in association with increased mucosal growth seen just prior to weaning. The present work examines the effects of the polyamine spermidine, administered exogenously during early postnatal development in the rat, on structural and functional differentiation of the intestine. Young rats were fed 6 mumol of spermidine for either 1 day (P1) or 3 days (P3) prior to sacrifice on postnatal day 10. Control littermates were sacrificed at day 10 (C10) or at day 49 (C49) (postweanling [adult] reference). A loss of most of the well-developed characteristic endosomal complex and supranuclear giant lysosome was observed in the absorptive cells of the ileum and proximal colon in the spermidine-treated groups and was accompanied by a decline in N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity to adult levels. A precocious appearance of sucrase and NaK ATPase activities was observed in the P1 group and these activities attained adult levels in the P3 group. This premature appearance of sucrase and NaK ATPase activities was associated with a decline in lactase levels. The exogenous administration of spermidine also elicited an increase in mucosal ODC activity.