Intestinal Dipeptidases

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Abstract
Quantitative assay of dipeptidase activity in small intestinal biopsies now can be made as routine analysis. Nine different dipeptidase activities have been studied in biopsies from 22 patients with gastrointestinal disorders. According to the histology of the mucosa and the fecal fat excretion the patients were divided into three groups. No significant difference in the dipeptidase activities was found between nine patients with normal mucosa and normal fecal fat excretion (Group I) and ten patients with normal mucosa and steatorrhea of unknown origin (Group II). Three patients (Group III) with gluten-induced enteropathy (abnormal mucosa and steatorrhea) showed, in contrast, significantly lower dipeptidase activities. A general increase in the activities was observed after treatment with gluten-free diet. It is suggested that the low activities obtained in these patients should be ascribed to the ‘atrophy’ of villi rather than to a primary lack of dipeptidases.