Folic acid and other absorption tests in lymphosarcoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and some related conditions

Abstract

An improved folic acid absorption test is described in detail. Using the folic acid and other absorption tests, a study of intestinal function has been made in eight patients with lymphosarcoma, eight with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, two with Hodgkin's disease, and one each with reticulum cell sarcoma, Whipple's disease, and macroglobulinaemia. It was found that laboratory evidence of intestinal malabsorption was extremely common in patients with this group of diseases. The folic acid absorption test was the most sensitive single index of malabsorption of the tests used in this study. Correlation between the different absorption tests was poor, and there does not appear to be a characteristic biochemical profile of intestinal function in these patients.