Blood, 1950, Vol. 5, No. 11, pp. 1009-1016.
© 1950 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
THE INTESTINAL CONTENT IN PERNICIOUS ANEMIA OF FACTORS FOR
THE GROWTH OF STREPTOCOCCUS FAECALIS AND
LACTOBACILLUS LEICHMANNII
RONALD H. GIRDWOOD M.B., CH.B., F.R.C.P.ED., M.R.C.P. (LOND.)1
1 Thomas Henry Simpson Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ann Arbor, Mich.
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.
Note:
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.
