In vitro study of the intestinal brush border enzyme activities in developing anuran amphibian: effects of thyroxine, cortisol, and insulin.

The effects of several hormones on intestinal brush border membrane enzymatic activities have been investigated in intestinal explants taken from the amphibian midwife toad at different developmental stages. Explants were treated for at least 2 days with thyroxine (0.1 microgram/ml of culture medium) or for 2 days with cortisol (25 micrograms/ml) or insulin (6 mU/ml). The hydrolases examined were maltase, trehalase, glucoamylase, and alkaline phosphatase. In the explants from tadpoles in prometamorphosis, thyroxine had no effect on hydrolase activities; cortisol increased the activity of only glucoamylase, and insulin increased activity of maltase, glucoamylase, and alkaline phosphatase. When the explants were taken from tadpoles at the beginning of climax, cortisol and insulin generally stimulated the enzyme activities studied. When taken from tadpoles at the end of climax, at the moment when the embryonic cells under the degenerating epithelium divide, cortisol and insulin had little effect on these activities. When the animals terminate their metamorphosis, the intestinal epithelium of the explants is totally newly formed (secondary epithelium). At this time, cortisol stimulated the activities of maltase, glucoamylase, and alkaline phosphatase, while insulin decreased the activities of maltase and glucoamylase.