Premium
Expression of brush border enzymes in response to lead exposure in rat intestine
Author(s) -
Kapur Priya,
Kaur Kamaljit,
Mahmood Akhtar
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of applied toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1099-1263
pISSN - 0260-437X
DOI - 10.1002/jat.1079
Subject(s) - brush border , brush , enzyme , chemistry , small intestine , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , materials science , vesicle , membrane , composite material
The effect of feeding lead (50 mg kg −1 body weight) daily for 7 days on the development of various brush border enzymes in the intestine has been studied. The activities of brush border sucrase ( P < 0.001), lactase ( P < 0.001), γ ‐glutamyl transpeptidase ( P < 0.05) and leucine aminopeptidase were reduced ( P < 0.05), whereas the alkaline phosphatase level was augmented ( P < 0.05) in lead fed rats compared with controls. Kinetic studies with sucrase revealed a low V max (0.224 in control and 0.160 units mg −1 protein in lead exposed) with no change in K m (12.6–13.5 m m ). Western blot analysis for alkaline phosphatase yielded intense staining of enzyme protein in lead fed rats compared with controls, however, the intensity of the antigen signal was reversed for sucrase under these conditions. These findings suggest that ingestion of lead may interfere with the crypt cell differentiation process thus affecting enzyme functions in the rat intestine. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.