Acid and Alkaline Phosphatase activities in the small intestine of the rat (Rattus norvegicus), bat (Eidolon helvum) and pangolin (Manis tricuspis)

Alkaline and Acid Phosphatase (ALP and ACP) activities were compared in the small intestine of the rat (Rattus norvegicus), bat (Eidolon helvum), and pangolin (Manis tricuspis) to observe possible modifications of their small intestine to different diets. Ten animals each of both sexes were used. Portions of their small intestine were homogenized and assayed spectrophotometrically for the activities of ALP, and ACP. ALP and ACP activities were significantly (at 95% confidence interval (p<0.05) and consistently higher in the bat than in the rat and pangolin. High ALP activities in the bat explain why chyle transit time in the bat gut is short because ALP facilitates transport across intestinal mucosa. A higher ACP activity in the bat is because they help to "mop up" the phosphate ions produced as a result of ATP hydrolysis. It can be concluded that the small intestine of the rat, bat and pangolin, utilizes the phosphatases to different degrees.