Possible role of the submandibular glands in the control of glucose metabolism in mouse enterocytes.

We evaluated the effect of sialadenectomy on hexokinase activity and on rates of lactate formation and of [U-14C]glucose decarboxylation in 3 cellular fractions of the small intestine epithelium from male adult mice. The surgery was carried out under ether anesthesia and a sham-operated group was used as control. Three cell fractions were obtained by shaking the inverted small intestine: 1) tip of the villus, 2) villus and 3) villus and crypt cells. Five days after sialadenectomy, hexokinase activity was reduced in fractions 1 (3.53 +/- 0.65 vs 1.98 +/- 0.25 nmol min-1 mg protein-1, expressed as mean +/- SEM for 7 mice) and 3 (5.01 +/- 0.55 vs 3.15 +/- 0.42 nmol min-1 mg protein-1, mean +/- SEM for 7 mice). After removal of the submandibular glands, the rates of lactate formation were decreased in fractions 2 (4.16 +/- 0.54 vs 2.30 +/- 0.25, mean +/- SEM for 10 and 11 mice, respectively) and 3 (1.74 +/- 0.24 vs 0.87 +/- 0.14, mean +/- SEM for 13 mice) and the rates of [U-14C] glucose decarboxylation were reduced in fraction 1 (1.14 +/- 0.12 vs 0.61 +/- 0.10, mean +/- SEM for 11 and 12 mice, respectively). We conclude that the secretion of submandibular glands plays a physiological role in the control of glucose metabolism in enterocytes.