The relations between intestinal alkaline phosphatase and carbohydrates with regard to calcium absorption

The effect of carbohydrates on calcium absorption were studied in situ following the injection of a solution containing CaCl2 (+45Ca) into the ileal loop. The increase in Ca absorption was proportional to the concentration of carbohydrates injected and could be attributed to a progressive increase in the duration of absorption. In the ileal loop, sorbitol was much more effective than L-arabinose at equal concentrations in activating absorption. Such differences in the action of these carbohydrates were also observed in vitro with alkaline phosphatase extracted from the ileum. The transphosphorylating effect of the enzyme was much more pronounced in the case of sorbitol. Since the carbohydrate is a phosphate acceptor, it might influence the duration of absorption by reducing the inhibition exerted by phosphate upon a transfer mechanism which involves phosphatase, another possibility is that carbohydrate could postpone calcium insolubility through the formation of a phosphocarbohydrate complex.