Intestinal Absorption of Sugars

Abstract

The principal objectives of this review are, from a biochemical standpoint (1) to clarify the relationship of intestinal absorption of sugars to the general phenomenon of cell permeability, and (2) to focus attention on a unique property which the epithelium of the small intestine appears to share, among animal tissues, only with the functionally similar epithelium of the proximal convoluted kidney tubule, namely, ability to transfer glucose and some related sugars from the lumen into the blood stream against a concentration difference. The location, specificity, and kinetics of the absorption process are discussed, as well as mutual inhibition between sugars, influence of concentration difference, temperature, and pH, effect of phlorizin, ions, hormones, vitamins, and water movement, and speculations, past and present, on the mechanism.