Enrique Perez-Santiago

Studies on the Oral and Parenteral Administration of D(+)xylose

THE absorption of xylose by the mammalian intestine was studied by Cori1 as long ago as 1925, and has recently been the subject of renewed interest in connection with studies of malabsorption syndr...

JEJUNAL BIOPSIES IN SPRUE

Excerpt Histologic studies of small bowel biopsies in sprue have received very little attention in spite of great interest in various absorptive phenomena. It is well known that the malabsorption s...

Evidence of increased intestinal absorption of molecular sucrose in sprue.

SummaryIt has been found that patients with sprue excrete significantly greater quantities of intact sucrose in the urine after an oral dose of sucrose than do normal subjects. The urine of normal persons becomes free of sucrose after a 10-hour fast, but patients with sprue may exhibit sucrosuria throughout a 24-hour fast. Diminished hydrolysis of sucrose and increased intestinal permeability are mentioned as possible explanations for the findings.

An evaluation of thymidine in treatment of tropical sprue.

Summary Injections of a potent preparation of Thymidine in doses equivalent to at least 20, 47, and 80 μg of Vit. B12 were without effect in producing hematologic improvement in patients with tropical sprue in relapse. The thymidine used in this study was purchased from Nutritional Biochemicals Corporation.

Congential defect in folic acid absorption

A Caucasian girl was noted to have persistent diarrhea and progressive pallor since age of two months. Hematologic evaluation at 3 months revealed anemia of 6.0 gm/100 ml and severe megaloblastic erythropoiesis. She failed to respond to oral treatment with folic acid, but she had a prompt hematologic and gastrointestinal response with folic acid I.M. She remained free of anemia and diarrhea and kept growing and developing adequately while receiving parenteral therapy with folic acid. Anorexia and severe stomatitis and glossitis developed regularly three to four weeks after the administration of 15 mg of folic acid I.M. Evaluation at age 11 yrs., 3 weeks after the last dose of folic acid I.M., revealed a normal girl except for moderate stomatitis and glossitis and some hypersegmented PMN leukocytes. Her serum and whole blood folates were 2.0 and 60 ng/ml, respectively, and the serum B-12 was 500 pg/ml. Intestinal absorption tests were normal. Gastric and jejunal biopsies revealed normal mucosa. Folic acid and citrovorum factor absorption tests with 5 mg doses showed flat curves. Forty mg. of folic acid orally also failed to produce an increase in serum folate or to control the early signs and symptoms of folic acid deficiency. The clearance of folate after the administration of 5 mg. of folic acid intravenously was normal, but the urinary excretion of folate was unusually low (100 μgm) in 8 hours. Studies for the presence of a folate inhibitor in the plasma were negative. These studies demonstrate an alteration in the normal mechanism of absorption of both physiologic and pharmacologic doses of folate compounds and suggest also a defective metabolism of folate in the tissues.