Time response of jejunal sucrase and maltase activity to a high sucrose diet in normal man.

Abstract

This study determined the time required for the adaptive changes in human jejunal sucrase and maltase activities when dietary carbohydrate was changed from glucose to sucrose, sucrose to carbohydrate-free, and glucose to fructose. Four volunteer subjects were studied. The time for the increases and decreases in activity was 2 to 5 days and there was no further change for 9 weeks thereafter. This time response is similar to the estimated time for intestinal epithelial cell turnover in the small intestine of man. It is proposed that the changes in disaccharidase activity produced by changes in dietary sugar content are due primarily to an effect on the crypt cell. The effect becomes increasingly manifest as these crypt cells divide and migrate up the villus.