HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aherne, F. Articles by Speer, V. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Aherne, F. Articles by Speer, V. C.

Absorption and Utilization of Sugars by the Baby Pigs¹

Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames⁴

Abstract

Feeding synthetic milk diets containing 56.6% sucrose or fructose to 2- and 4-day-old pigs resulted in reduced gain, decreased feed efficiency and greater mortality as compared with performance of pigs fed similar diets in which glucose or lactose was the carbohydrate source. The mortality of 4-day-old pigs was lower on the sucrose and fructose diets than that of the 2-day-old pigs. No deaths occurred when these diets were fed to 6- and 7-day-old pigs. There were no significant differences among treatments in either weight gain or feed efficiency of the 6-day-old pigs. Seven-day-old pigs fed the lactose and glucose diets gained significantly faster than pigs fed the sucrose diet but not faster than those fed the fructose diet. There were no significant differences in gains among fructose-, glucose- or lactose-fed pigs or between those fed sucrose or fructose.

Four-day-old pigs deprived of food were more resistant to the onset of hypoglycemic coma than were 2-day-old pigs. Intraperitoneal injections of 20 ml. of a 10% solution of glucose were immediately effective in resuscitating pigs in hypoglycemic coma. Similar injections of sucrose, lactose, fructose or fructose–l:6-diphosphate were not effective in alleviating the hypoglycemic coma.

Intestinal loop and stomach tubing techniques were used to study absorption and excretion of fructose by 3-, 6- and 9-day-old pigs. Fructose was absorbed with little or no conversion to glucose occurring in the intestinal wall. Glucose was absorbed more rapidly than fructose, and no glucose was found in the intestine or the urine at the end of the experiments.

The fructokinase activity of the liver and intestine of the pig was low relative to that of the liver of the adult rat. The results suggest that the fructokinase activity of the liver, but not the intestine, increases with age or in the presence of fructose as a substrate.

¹ Journal Paper No. J–6084 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames. Project No. 1511.

² Present address: University of Dublin, Ireland.

³ Present address: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington.

⁴ Department of Animal Science.