Functional and molecular biological evidence of SGLT-1 in the ruminal epithelium of sheep

Abstract

Because of the effective catabolism ofd-glucose to short-chain fatty acids by intraruminal microorganisms, the absorption of d-glucose from the rumen was thought to be of minor importance. However, clinical studies suggested that significant quantities of d-glucose are transported from the ruminal contents to the blood. We therefore tested the ruminal epithelium of sheep for the presence of Na+-glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT-1) on both the functional and mRNA levels. In the absence of an electrochemical gradient, 3- O-methylglucose (3-OMG) was net absorbed across isolated ruminal epithelia mounted in Ussing chambers. The net transport of 3-OMG followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics and was sensitive to phlorizin or decreasing Na+concentrations. The mucosal addition of 10 mM d-glucose induced an immediate, phlorizin-sensitive increase in short-circuit current ( Isc). Isccould also be increased by serosal addition of d-glucose or d-mannose, but electrogenic uptake of d-glucose or 3-OMG added on the mucosal side was still detectable after serosal stimulation of Isc. RT-PCR using primers specific for the ovine intestinal SGLT-1 with subsequent TA cloning and sequencing revealed 100% identity between the cloned cDNA and mRNA fragment 187–621 of ovine intestinal SGLT-1. In conclusion, the ruminal epithelium has a high-affinity SGLT-1, which indicates that it maintains the capacity for d-glucose absorption.