Stability and Bioavailability of Lentztrehaloses A, B, and C as Replacements for Trehalose

Trehalose is widely used as a sweetener, humectant, and stabilizer, but is ubiquitously degraded by the enzyme trehalase expressed in a broad variety of organisms. The stability of the new trehalose analogues lentztrehaloses A, B, and C in microbial and mammalian cell cultures and their pharmacokinetics in mice were analyzed to evaluate their potential as successors of trehalose. Among the 12 species of microbes and 2 cancer cell lines tested, 7 digested trehalose, whereas no definitive digestion of the lentztrehaloses was observed in any of them. When orally administered to mice (0.5 g/kg), trehalose was not clearly detected in blood and urine and only slightly detected in feces. However, lentztrehaloses were detected in blood at >1 μg/mL over several hours and were eventually excreted in feces and urine. These results indicate that lentztrehaloses may potentially replace trehalose as nonperishable materials and drug candidates with better bioavailabilities.

Renal trehalase: function and development

1. Following injection of trehalose into the bloodstream, no trehalose was found in urine of rabbits until the concentration of trehalose in blood exceeded 0.6 mg/ml. 2. Absence of trehalose in urine of the rabbit when the concentration of the sugar in blood is elevated supports the hypothesis that renal trehalase functions as a digestive enzyme in kidney. 3. The rat does not possess renal trehalase, and excretion of trehalose was in direct relation to the concentration of trehalose in blood. 4. There are differences in expression of the disaccharidases in kidney and intestine although they share many structural and enzymatic characteristics.

Urinary trehalase activity and renal brush-border damage in inhabitants of a cadmium-polluted area (Jinzu River basin)

Elevated urinary trehalase activity was observed in the inhabitants of the Jinzu River basin. Urinary trehalase activity was correlated with other urinalysis components, such as beta 2-microglobulin, glucose, amino nitrogen, and cadmium, of which a high level was observed in cadmium-polluted areas as compared with the reference area. Renal trehalase is specifically localized in tubular brush borders [M. Nakano, J. Histochem. Cytochem., 30 (1982) 1243-1248]. From these results it is inferred that tubular brush-border damage occurs in inhabitants of the Jinzu River basin.

[Influence of parenteral injection of trehalose on mammals with different trehalase levels]

Administration of trehalose by parenteral route to mammals (Guinea-pig and rabbit) equipped with Kidney trehalase is followed by rapid hydrolysis of the disaccharide which is excreted in urine only in very low amounts. When the animal under investigation has not trehalase in the kidney (rat), practically the total amount of trehalase is excreted in urine. Perfusion of kidney in rabbit confirms the very rapid hydrolysis of trehalose by this organ.

Brush border disaccharidases in dog kidney and their spatial relationship to glucose transport receptors

The localization of disaccharidases in kidney has been studied by means of the multiple indicator dilution technique. A pulse injection of a solution containing Evans blue dye (plasma marker), creatinine (extracellular marker), and a (14)C-labeled disaccharide (lactose, sucrose, maltose, and alphaalpha-trehalose), is made into the renal artery of an anesthetized dog, and the outflow curves are monitored simultaneously from renal venous and urine effluents. Lactose and sucrose have an extracellular distribution. Trehalose and maltose remain extracellular from the postglomerular circulation. About 75% of filtered tracer maltose or trehalose is extracted by the luminal surface of the nephron. Thin-layer chromatography of urine samples shows that all of the excreted (14)C radiolabel is in the form of the injected disaccharide. Following the administration of phlorizin, all of the filtered radioactivity is recoverable in the urine, but chromatography of the urine samples now reveals that there is a significant excretion of [(14)C]glucose, approximating the amount previously extracted under control conditions (in the absence of phlorizin). It has been verified that no hydrolysis of maltose or trehalose to their constituent glucose subunits occurred during the transit of tracer between the point of injection (renal artery), and the point of filtration (glomerular basement membrane). Similarly, after addition of [(14)C]disaccharides to fresh urine there is no chromatographically recoverable [(14)C]glucose. It is concluded that there exist alpha-glucosidases with maltase and trehalase activity along the brush border of the proximal tubule and that these disaccharidases are located spatially superficial to the glucose transport receptors.