American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 27, 760-763, Copyright © 1974 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Intestinal dipeptidases in primary protein malnutrition

¹ From the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

Intestinal dipeptidase activities were studied in 20 normal control subjects and in 9 patients with primary protein malnutrition. The normal control subjects had low dipeptidase levels as compared with American and European controls. Although the dipeptidase levels of our patients were significantly lower (P < 0.001) than those of the control subjects, no gross damage to their intestinal mucosa was observed. It is possible that early, minor morphological changes in the brush border were missed by the light microscope but were severe enough to affect the enzyme levels. It is postulated that the effects of protein deficiency are increased because the enzymes, present in insufficient amounts (due initially to protein malnutrition), are unable to act on the low levels of protein available in the gastrointestinal tract, thus creating a vicious cycle.