The effect of
carbofuran administration to rats has been studied on
enzymes functions in rat intestine.
Carbofuran was administrated 4.0 mg/kg
body weight for 7 days or 2.8 mg/kg
body weight for 30 days daily by Ryle's tube. Animals given
carbofuran for 30 days exhibited retarded growth compared to control group. The activities of
sucrase (56%),
alkaline phosphatase (62%),
leucine aminopeptidase (56%), and gamma-glutamyl trans
peptidase (84%) were enhanced in animals given
carbofuran for 7 days. Enhancement in the activities of
alkaline phosphatase and
leucine amino
peptidase (92-96%) was also observed in animals exposed to
carbofuran for 30 days, but the activities of
sucrase (28%) and
gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (49%) were reduced under these conditions. There was no change in activities of
maltase,
lactase, and
trehalase in
pesticide-treated animals for 7 or 30 days. The activity of
lactate dehydrogenase was enhanced (p < 0.001) in 7 days and 30 days induced
carbofuran toxicity. The activities of
glucose-6-phosphatase and
glutamate pyruvate transaminase were also enhanced (p < 0.001) in
pesticide-treated animals for 7 days, but were reduced by 46% and 26%, respectively, after 30 days of
carbofuran exposure. The activity of
glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase was unaltered in
carbofuran toxicity. Kinetic analysis of brush border
enzymes revealed a change in V(max) with no change in apparent Km. Western blot analysis of brush border
sucrase,
alkaline phosphatase, and
leucine aminopeptidase corroborated the
enzyme activity data. Intestinal histological revealed distruption of the villi, and comet assay showed disintegration of
DNA in enterocytes of animals exposed to
carbofuran for 30 days. These findings suggest that
carbofuran toxicity may modulate digestive functions in rat intestine.