Basic Research
Copyright ©2005 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 7, 2005; 11(17): 2603-2608
Published online May 7, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i17.2603
Effects of long-term ethanol consumption on jejunal lipase and disaccharidase activities in male and female rats
Chi-Chang Huang, Jiun-Rong Chen, Chieh-Chung Liu, Kung-Tung Chen, Ming-Jer Shieh, Suh-Ching Yang
Chi-Chang Huang, Graduate Institute of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan, China
Jiun-Rong Chen, Ming-Jer Shieh, Suh-Ching Yang, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan, China
Chieh-Chung Liu, Department of Physical Education, Yuanpei University of Science and Technology, Hsin Chu, Taiwan, China
Kung-Tung Chen, Department of General Education, Ming Hsin University of Science and Technology, Hsin Chu 304, Taiwan, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the Department of Health in Taiwan China, DOH93-TD-F-113-010
Correspondence to: Dr. Suh-Ching Yang, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan, China. sokei@tmu.edu.tw
Telephone: +886-2-2736-1661 Fax: +886-2-2737-3112
Received: September 30, 2004
Revised: October 2, 2004
Accepted: December 8, 2004
Published online: May 7, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To study the effect of long-term ethanol consumption on jejunal lipase and disaccharidase (sucrase, maltase, and lactase) activities in rats and its gender difference.

METHODS: Age-matched male and female Wistar rats were fed control or ethanol-containing liquid diets for 12 wk following the Lieber-DeCarli model. According to both the plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities, 40 rats were divided into four groups as follows: male control group (MC), male ethanol group (ME), female control group (FC), and female ethanol group (FE).

RESULTS: After ethanol feeding for 12 wk, the results revealed that plasma AST and ALT activities of group ME were significantly increased by 58% and 92%, respectively, than those of group MC (P<0.05). Similarly, plasma AST and ALT activities of group FE were also significantly increased by 61% and 188%, respectively, than those of group FC (P<0.05). Fat accumulation was observed in both ethanol-treated groups, while fatty changes were more severe in group FE than those in group ME. The induction of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) was obviously seen in group ME and group FE, but was not detected in group MC and group FC. Jejunal lipase activity of group ME was significantly increased by 1.25-fold than that of group MC (P<0.05). In contrast to, sucrase, maltase, and lactase activities of group ME were significantly decreased by 63%, 62% and 67%, respectively, than those of group MC (P<0.05). Similarly, activities of these three enzymes of group FE were also significantly decreased by 43%, 46% and 52%, respectively, than those of group FC (P<0.05). There were no significant epithelial changes of the duodenal mucosa in any group.

CONCLUSION: Long-term ethanol consumption significantly can increase jejunal lipase and decrease jejunal disaccharidase activities in both male and female rats.

Keywords: Ethanol consumption, Jejunal lipase, Disaccharidase, Gender difference, Rats