Intestinal absorption in normal Indian and English people

The absorption of glycine, glycylglycine, water, and electrolytes was studied by intestinal perfusion in normal Indian and English people. Compared with the English people the Indians showed impaired absorption of all four substances. In the Indians the absorption of glycine and glycylglycine was impaired to the same extent, so that the kinetic advantage of glycylglycine as compared with glycine was preserved. The reduced absorption in the Indians may be the functional counterpart of the minor morphological changes seen in the jejunal mucosa of people living in southern India.