title: Pancreatic and pancreatic-like microbial proteases accelerate gut maturation in neonatal rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Postnatal gut maturation in neonatal mammals, either at natural weaning or after precocious inducement, is coinciding with enhanced enzymes production by exocrine pancreas. Since the involvement of enzymes in gut functional maturation was overlooked, the present study aimed to investigate the role of enzymes in gut functional maturation using neonatal rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Suckling rats (Rattus norvegicus) were instagastrically gavaged with porcine pancreatic enzymes (Creon), microbial-derived amylase, protease, lipase and mixture thereof, while controls received α-lactalbumin or water once per day during 14-16 d of age. At 17 d of age the animals were euthanized and visceral organs were dissected, weighed and analyzed for structural and functional properties. For some of the rats, gavage with the macromolecular markers such as bovine serum albumin and bovine IgG was performed 3 hours prior to blood collection to assess the intestinal permeability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gavage with the pancreatic or pancreatic-like enzymes resulted in stimulated gut growth, increased gastric acid secretion and switched intestinal disaccharidases, with decreased lactase and increased maltase and sucrase activities. The fetal-type vacuolated enterocytes were replaced by the adult-type in the distal intestine, and macromolecular transfer to the blood was declined. Enzyme exposure also promoted pancreas growth with increased amylase and trypsin production. These effects were confined to the proteases in a dose-dependent manner.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Feeding exogenous enzymes, containing proteases, induced precocious gut maturation in suckling rats. This suggests that luminal exposure to proteases by oral loading or, possibly, via enhanced pancreatic secretion involves in the gut maturation of young mammals.
authors: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors: Olena
authors: O
authors: Prykhodko
authors: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Department of Medical Biology, Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, Poland.
authors: Stefan G
authors: SG
authors: Pierzynowski
authors: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors: Elham
authors: E
authors: Nikpey
authors: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors: Ester
authors: E
authors: Arevalo Sureda
authors: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors: Olexandr
authors: O
authors: Fedkiv
authors: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors: Björn R
authors: BR
authors: Weström
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002417:Cattle; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005744:Gastric Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010179:Pancreas / Q000201:enzymology*; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000032:analysis; D034421:Sus scrofa
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases