Intestinal absorption rate of L-methionine in man and the effect of glucose in the perfusing fluid.

1. Using a double-lumen tube perfusion system the rates of absorption of L-methionine and glucose from a 30 cm segment of the jejunum were estimated in eight relatively normal Zambian African subjects. The effect of each substrate on the absorption of the other has also been investigated. The solutions perfused were given at 12.0 ml. min(-1), and contained (A) 100 m-mole l.(-1)L-methionine, (B) 100 m-mole l.(-1)L-methionine and 150 m-mole l.(-1) glucose and (C) 150 m-mole l.(-1) glucose.2. The presence of glucose in the perfusing fluid did not significantly alter the mean absorption rate of methionine; in six subjects, the rate of methionine absorption from solution B was less than from solution A, but in two there was a marked difference in the opposite direction. This may indicate an individual difference in the effect of glucose on L-methionine absorption in man. The presence of methionine in the perfusing fluid did not significantly alter the mean absorption rate of glucose.3. Five subjects had a transitory psychiatric disturbance after the investigation. The cause of this is not clear, but was probably caused by the absorption of a break-down product of methionine from the large intestine.