NEW METHODS FOR ESTIMATING ENZYMATIC ACTIVITIES OF DUODENAL CONTENTS OF NORMAL MAN

Abstract

In a former paper¹reference was made to the need of data concerning details of the physiology of the human gastrointestinal tract in order that experimental observations on the functional pathology of the latter might be more intelligently interpreted. The present communication is a continuation of physiologic investigation of the alimentary canal in normal man, and deals with methods for the study of the enzymatic activities of the duodenal contents. A résumé of most of the methods which have been used for such studies in the past is given in the appendix of the book of Euler.²The methods, or their modifications, which have been used most frequently in investigation in clinical medicine are as follows: Proteolytic enzymes. —Methods of Gross³and Mett.⁴The method of Gross is a modification of one devised by Volhard.⁵It is based on the principle that from faintly alkaline solutions (0.1 per cent, sodium