With a view to assessing the effect of chronic malnutrition on the small intestinal mucosa, enterokinase and disaccharidase activities were measured in the biopsy specimens obtained by jejunal biopsy. Eighteen cases of protein-energy malnutrition aged between 9 and 24 months were studied and 9 normal infants of the same age were used as the control group. Mucosal atrophy of the small intestine was established in all protein-energy malnutrition cases. Enterokinase, lactase and sucrase enzymes were found to be significantly lower in the protein-energy malnutrition group of infants, but the maltase enzyme levels were not found to be significantly affected by malnutrition. There was no significant difference in any of the enzyme levels between protein-energy malnutrition cases of second and third degree.

Keywords: disaccharidase, enterokinase, mucosal atrophy, protein-energy malnutrition