Vitamin a absorption and its relation to intestinalmotility in fibrocystic disease of the pancreas

The Comparative Absorption of Vitamin a From a Water-Miscible and an Oily Preparation by Normal Human Adults and Patients With Steatorrhea 1

“…Such evidence includes increased fecal nitrogen losses (22), flat oral glucose tolerance curves, normal intravenous glucose tolerance tests, and signs of deficiencies of water-soluble vitamins. Impaired motility of the intestinal tract as demonstrated by roentgen examination probably is a factor in the malabsorption of nutritive substances in sprue (23,24). The retarded absorption of the finely emulsified water-miscible vitamin A alcohol in the cases of nontropical sprue suggests that there may be a delay in passage of the vitamin across the intestinal wall, since the vitamin within the lumen of the bowel is apparently in an optimal state for absorption.…”

Congenital Fibrocystic Disease of the Pancreas: A Report of Two Proved Cases of Dissimilar Clinical Types in Siblings

“…They collected from the literature several instances in which one sibling suffered from congenital intestinal obstruction and another from proved pancreatic disease presenting one ofthe other cinical syndromes (Flax et al, 1942;Deem and McGeorge, 1941;Attwood and Sargent, 1942;Philipsborn et al, 1944). In none of these instances were both siblings examined at autopsy.…”

Pancreatic Insufficiency and the Celiac Syndrome

“…30 Proceeding on the assumption that the inefficient absorption of vitamin A as well as of glucose is probably associated with the lack of tone and abnormal motility of the intestinal tract, they administered Prostigmine parenterally to a patient with pancreatic fibrosis and observed an almost immediate rise in the blood level of vitamin A. They chose this drug because of its success in restoring muscle tone in postoperative ileus.4" After a period of five months, during which Prostigmine Bromide was given in amounts of 7.5 mg. three times a day, the absorption of vitamin A showed a normal curve.…”