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Dietary Gangliosides Enhance In Vitro Glucose Uptake in Weanling Rats

Laurie A. Drozdowski, PhD^*, Miyoung Suh, PhD, Eekjoong Park, PhD, M. Tom Clandinin, PhD^*, and Alan B. R. Thomson, MD, PhD^*

From the ^* Nutrition and Metabolism Group, Division of Gastroenterology, and the Nutrition and Metabolism Research Group, Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Correspondence: A. B. R. Thomson, MD, PhD, Zeidler Ledcor Center, 130 University Campus, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2X8. Electronic mail may be sent to alan.thomson{at}ualberta.ca.

Background: The intestine adapts to environmental stimuli, such as modifications in dietary lipids. Dietary lipids modify brush border membrane (BBM) permeability and nutrient transporter activities. Gangliosides (GANG) are glycolipids present in human milk, but they are present only in low amounts in infant formula. Exogenous GANG are incorporated into cell membranes and increase their permeability. This study was undertaken to determine if feeding a 0.2% GANG-enriched diet for 2 weeks alters in vitro intestinal sugar absorption in weanling rats compared with an isocaloric control diet or diet enriched with polyunsaturated long-chain fatty acids. Methods: In vitro uptake of 34–96 mm glucose and fructose and morphological measurements were assessed on intestinal tissue of weanling rats. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, Northern blotting, and reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction were performed to determine the mRNA and protein abundance of the sugar transporters SGLT-1, GLUT2 and GLUT5. Results: Feeding GANG did not alter the rates of animal weight gain or intestinal morphology. GANG did not affect fructose uptake. Depending on the concentration of glucose, GANG increased jejunal uptake of higher concentrations of glucose by approximately 20%–60%. There were no changes in GLUT5 or GLUT2 protein or mRNA abundance. Similarly, there were no changes in SGLT-1 mRNA and protein abundance, as determined by Northern and Western blotting. However, using immunohistochemistry, SGLT-1 was lower in GANG than in controls. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the enhanced uptake of glucose that results from feeding 0.2% GANG for 2 weeks to weanling rats may be regulated posttranslationally. Clearly any adjustment of the content of GANG in infant formula must be studied carefully.

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