Abstract
Transferrins (TF) are major milk whey proteins which may function in iron absorption, protection against infection, and cell growth in the gastrointestinal tract. Their potential to perform such roles is dependent upon the degree to which they survive digestion within the gastrointestinal lumen. To evaluate the development of luminal digestion of TF, we measured the hydrolysis of 125I-human TF incubated in vitro with fluid flushed from the stomach and small intestine of 12-day old suckling and 31-day old weanling rats, followed by analysis of radioactivity soluble in trichloroacetic acid. In the stomach, TF degradation at pH 3.2 was minimal in the suckling but increased greater than 20-fold by the time of weaning. In the small intestine at neutral pH, the rate of TF hydrolysis was 10-fold greater in the weanling than in the suckling; in both age groups peak degradative capacity was observed in the mid-jejunum. Corticosteroid administration to suckling rats increased TF hydrolysis in all gastrointestinal segments. We conclude that luminal TF digestion increases with weaning in the rat and that degradative capacity for this protein may be precociously increased by corticosteroids.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Britton, J., Koldovsky, O. LUMINAL DIGESTION OF TRANSFERRIN IN SUCKLING AND WEANLING RATS. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 264 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00584
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00584