Abstract: 40 adult male rats were used and divied into 4 groups,i, e. normal control group; experi-mental spleen deficiency group induced by rhubarb; spontaneous recovery group and thera-peutic group treated with Chinese herbs （Si Jun Zi decoction）. The animals of the four groups were sacrificed simultaneously and their small intestines were removed and prepared for the histochemical demonstration of SDH, LDH, Mg²⁺-activited ATPase, ALP and G-6-Pase. These enzymes’ activity in absorptive cells of intestinal villi was observed and semi-quantitative estimation was performed under LM. In addition, the SDH and LDH reactivity was measured by microspectrophoter（MPV2, Leitz）. All the data were processed statistical-ly. The reactivities of SDH, G-6-Pase and Mg²⁺-ATP ase in exprimental spleen deficiency group were weaker than those of normal control group while the reactivities of LDH and ALP were stronger than those of the normal control. The reactivities of above stated 5 en-zymes in the therapeutic group were stronger in comparison, with the spontaneous recovery group. These results suggest that the enzyme changes in absorptive cells of small intestine are closely related to digestive disorders occured in spleen dificiency syndrome and may take an important part in the pathogenesis of spleen dificiency syndrome, and that the Chinese herbs （Si Jun Zi decoction）currently employed possess significant therapeutic effect on the syn-drome.

Key words: experimental spleen deficiency, enzyme histochemistry, small intestine mucosa, absorptive cell