Intestinal Absorption of Amino Acids

Abstract

From the investigations of Nagano1 and of Cori2 it is well known that intestinal absorption of the monosaccharides is far from being a simple process of diffusion. The different sugars introduced in equal amounts of equimolar solutions leave the intestinal cavity with very different speed, more physiological substances like glucose or galactose being absorbed much more rapidly than mannose or even the pentoses. From more recent papers of Magee and Reid,3 Wilbrandt and Laszt,4 Lundsgaard,5 Wertheimer,6 Verzar7 it can be concluded, that special cellular factors are responsible for the higher rates of absorption. This paper reports experiments leading to the conclusion that there exists still another group of substances of great physiological importance, the amino acids, which likewise leave the intestine with greater velocity than could be expected from simple diffusion.The experiments were carried out with starved rats under nembutal anesthesia. In each experiment, a loop of the small intestine was isolate...