To characterize the mechanisms leading to dietary evoked increases of lactase and sucrase activities by carbohydrates, we performed a quantitative comparison of the effects of lactose and sucrose on the corresponding disaccharidases in the jejunum of 2-month-old rats. For 7-10 days the rats were fed a low-starch (5 cal%), high-fat (73 cal%) diet, and for various periods of time (3-72 h) were given an isocaloric sucrose or lactose (20, 40, or 70 cal%) diet. Lactase and sucrase activities in jejunal homogenates were significantly increased within 3 h after the initial feeding of the sucrose (40 cal%) diet. After 3 h of feeding the sucrose diet, sucrase activity gradually increased and reached its maximum at 24 h, whereas lactase activity did not exhibit further change. Increased intake of sucrose led to an increase of lactase and sucrase activity. Within a range of doses of digestible amounts of lactose, the effect of diet containing lactose on these disaccharidase activities was similar to the effect of the diet containing sucrose. This similarity suggests the important role of the common constituent sugar, i.e., glucose. Further, analyses of response to these disaccharides along the villus-crypt axis revealed that the increase of lactase activity occurs at a more apical and broader locus of cohort of epithelial cells along the height of the villus than that of sucrase, suggesting that different mechanisms are involved in dietary regulation of lactase and sucrase.