[Disaccharidases of the small intestine mucosa in infants and children. "Normal values", log normal distribution and age dependence].

In 63 infants and children with a histological normal mucosa of the duodenum, without an isolated defect of enzyme and with a normal increase of xylose and glucose in serum after a combined xylose-lactose loading test the activities of disaccharidases were log normal distributed. The asymmetric distributions were transformed into symmetric ones and the geometric mean (x) as well as the range (+/- 2 s) of maltase, saccharase, isomaltase, lactase and trehalase were calculated. Only the activity of lactase shows a significant dependency on age. In the first year of age the lower limit (x -- 2 s) of this enzyme is much higher than later.