Appeal No. 94-3206 Application 07/823,827 enzymatic activity in the mucosal cells of the small intestine which comprises the steps of: (1) determining the need for improvement in digestibility of carbohydrates in said animal as evidenced by the monitoring of the carbohydrate digestion coefficient of said animal; (2) providing a composition containing an effective amount of iron and at least one other mineral selected from the group consisting of zinc, copper, manganese and cobalt and mixtures thereof said iron and each of said other minerals being present in the form of an amino acid chelate having a ligand to iron or other mineral mole ratio of at least 1:1, a molecular weight of no more than 1500 daltons and a stability constant of 6 16 between about 10 and 10 as needed, based upon said carbohydrate digestion coefficient determination, to maintain and enhance said enzymatic activity in said animal, and (3) orally administering an effective amount of said composition to said warm- blooded animal for a period of time sufficient to stimulate the production of natural disaccharidase enzymes and enhance the enzymatic activity thereof in said animal. The references relied upon by the examiner are: Ashmead et al. (Ashmead) 4,863,898 Sep. 5, 1989 Buts et al. (Buts), “Alteration of intracellular synthesis of surface membrane glycoproteins in small intestine of iron-deficient rats,” American Journal of Physiology, Vol. 251, pp. G736-43 (1986) Claims 1 through 4, 7 through 13, 15 through 18, and 20 stand rejected 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Ashmead in view of Buts. We reverse. The claims on appeal are directed to a method which includes administering a composition which contains iron and at least one other specified mineral in the form of an amino acid chelate to an animal. However, this composition is not administered to 2Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007