The Absorption of Glucose from the Alimentary Tract of Rats Deprived of the Vitamin B Complex

Abstract

The method devised by Cori for the quantitative study of the absorption of glucose by the whole alimentary tract has been used. Three different groups of animals were used, one group from the Rochester colony, a second from the Penn State colony and a third from the Albino Supply Company. The Penn State rats were pied, while the other two groups were albino. The results obtained with the different groups do not correspond closely. The rate of absorption of glucose was not uniform for the one- two- and three-hour periods, this being particularly noticeable in case of the rats which had received a diet deficient in vitamin B. The total amount of glucose absorbed and the amount absorbed per 100 grams of body weight per hour by normal and vitamin B-deprived animals varied within wide limits. These variations were not dependent upon body weight nor upon the actual amount of glucose fed. Absorption per square centimeter of surface area varies markedly, although the results indicate that there is a slightly closer relationship between absorption and body surface than between absorption and body weight. The percentage of glucose absorbed during one-, two- and three-hour periods appeared to be dependent upon the amount of glucose remaining unabsorbed in the alimentary tract. The Rochester rats which had been on a diet containing no vitamin B absorbed a smaller percentage of the glucose fed than did normal animals. Vitamin B deprivation had little effect upon absorption in rats of the Penn State colony, rats on a diet totally deficient in vitamin B absorbing practically the same amount of glucose as the normal animals. Rats which had been on a B-deficient diet but had received yeast did absorb a lesser percentage of the glucose fed. Rats from the Albino Supply Company, which had received a diet containing no vitamin B absorbed a smaller amount of the glucose fed than did normal animals. Rats on the same B-free diet which had received yeast showed little difference in absorption as compared with normals. The percentage of glucose absorbed by normal animals of the Penn State colony and the Albino Supply Company closely approximates that found by Cori. The variation in the percentage of absorption with our normal animals is somewhat greater than the percentage variation to be noted between the absorption coefficients found by Cori.