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Folic acid and hexose absorption in sprue

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Abstract

Using an intestinal perfusion technique, folic acid (PGA) and hexose absorption were studied in 9 patients with sprue. Folate malabsorption was only demonstrable during perfusion with glucose or galactose and saline, not with saline alone. Hexose absorption was diminished. The stimulation by sugar of PGA, water, and sodium transport, as seen in controls, was absent. 2 patients with untreated tropical sprue had less severe malabsorption than those with celiac spure. Treatment of tropical spure for two months in one patient resulted in partial improvement, while treatment for six months in the other restored normal absorptive function.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York, Fifth Avenue and 100th Street, 10029, New York, New York

    C. D. Gerson MD, N. Cohen MD, N. Brown MD, J. Lindenbaum MD, G. W. Hepner MRCP & H. D. Janowitz MD

  2. Department of Medicine, Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons, Fifth Avenue and 100th Street, 10029, New York, New York

    C. D. Gerson MD, N. Cohen MD, N. Brown MD, J. Lindenbaum MD, G. W. Hepner MRCP & H. D. Janowitz MD

Authors
  1. C. D. Gerson MD
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  2. N. Cohen MD
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  3. N. Brown MD
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  4. J. Lindenbaum MD
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  5. G. W. Hepner MRCP
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  6. H. D. Janowitz MD
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Additional information

Supported by the National Foundation for Ileitis and Colitis, Inc.; the Nuffield Foundation, Grant RR-71 to the Clinical Research Center, The Mount Sinai Hospital; and MH-17957 from the National Institutes of Health.

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Gerson, C.D., Cohen, N., Brown, N. et al. Folic acid and hexose absorption in sprue. Digest Dis Sci 19, 911–919 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01076214

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