Short-term Fasting Induces Intra-hepatic Lipid Accumulation and Decreases Intestinal Mass Without Reduced Brush-border Enzyme Activity in Mink (Mustela Vison) Small Intestine

For many mammalian species short-term fasting is associated with intestinal atrophy and decreased digestive capacity. Under natural conditions, strictly carnivorous animals often experience prey scarcity during winter, and they may therefore be particularly well adapted to short-term food deprivation. To examine how the carnivorous gastrointestinal tract is affected by fasting, small-intestinal structure, brush-border enzyme activities and hepatic structure and function were examined in fed mink (controls) and mink that had been fasted for 1-10 days. During the first 1-2 days of fasting, intestinal mass decreased more rapidly than total body mass and villus heights were reduced 25-40%. In contrast, tissue-specific activity of the brush-border enzymes sucrase, maltase, lactase, aminopeptidase A and dipeptidylpeptidase IV increased 0.5- to 1.5-fold at this time, but returned to prefasting levels after 6 days of fasting. After 6-10 days of fasting there was a marked increase in the activity of hepatic enzymes and accumulation of intra-hepatic lipid vacuoles. Thus, mink may be a useful model for studying fasting-induced intestinal atrophy and adaptation as well as mechanisms involved in accumulation of intra-hepatic lipids following food deprivation in strictly carnivorous domestic mammals, such as cats and ferrets.