Abstract
The gastric juice and small intestinal secretions of three cases of untreated pernicious anemia and two control patients obtained during a period of fasting contained only very small amounts of pteroylglutamic acid or of factors for the growth of L. leichmannii, which include vitamin B12; there was no evidence of a consistent increase or decrease of these factors along the intestine.
Both pteroylglutamic acid and vitamin B12 appear to be synthesized in relatively large amounts in the large intestine; in a patient with pernicious anemia, the daily output in the stools may be about 5 micrograms of vitamin B12 and 0.5 mg. of pteroylglutamic acid. Similar quantities may be present in patients not suffering from this disorder.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank Dr. C. C. Sturgis and Dr. F. H. Bethell for the facilities granted for the carrying out of this investigation, and for their interest and advice, and to thank Dr. M. E. Swendseid for invaluable advice on the microbiologic assay work, and Dr. H. R. Morgan, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, for granting facilities for bacteriologic studies.
