Normal sugar uptake in vitro by small-bowel biopsies from a patient with cholera.

We have investigated the 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3MG) absorption by jejunal biopsies obtained from a patient with cholera. The absorption of 3MG (as measured from the determination of intracellular accumulation of this sugar) was found to occur against a concentration gradient and to be a saturable process that follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics. There was no appreciable difference in 3MG absorption between the biopsies from the normal volunteers and those from the patient with cholera.