Disaccharidase Activities in Human Intestinal Mucosa

Abstract

(1) Human intestinal disaccharidase activities have been determined in samples from duodenum, jejunum and ileum mucosa obtained from 24 patients during intestinal operation and from 11 normal subjects through peroral biopsy. (2) Of these activities the following characteristics have been studied: (a) pH- activity-curves, (b) the conditions of zero-order kinetics and the relation between the amount of enzyme and enzymatic activity, (c) the enzymatic activities as a function of the substrate concentration. (3) The levels of disaccharidase activities have been determined in duodenum, in the first part of jejunum and in the last part of ileum; their distribution in the different portions of the intestinal tract is discussed as well as the ratios among them.