[The current concepts on the absorption of monosaccharides, amino acids and peptides in the mammalian small intestine]

Abstract

The review is mainly devoted to the development of ideas about absorption, or transport, of basic nutrients in the small intestine in humans and higher animal. The absorption processes have been characterized on the example of such substances, vital for organism, as carbohydrates and proteins. The review considers a molecular structure of transporters--protein molecules, which take part in a transfer of the products of lumenal and membrane digestion of carbohydrates (glucose, galactose, fructose) and proteins (amino acids, oligopeptides) across the enterocyte membranes. An information is presented about genetic disturbances of transport of certain amino acids during such diseases as Hartnup disease, cystinuria, and iminoglycineuria.