Morphology, Dipeptidases and Disaccharidases of Small Intestinal Mucosa in Vitamin B₁₂ and Folic Acid Deficiency

Mucosal morphology and intestinal enzyme activities (dipeptidases and disaccharidases) were studied in 33 biopsies from 24 patients with vitamin B 12 and/or folic acid deficiency. The villi were generally shorter in patients than in controls (34 subjects). The disaccharidases and L‐alanyl‐L‐proline dipeptidase activity were depressed in about 30 % of the patients, untreated and treated. Glycyl‐L‐leucine and L‐alanyl‐L‐glutamic acid dipeptidase activity was normal in untreated patients but was depressed during treatment with vitamin B 12 .