Measurement of small intestinal permeability markers, lactulose, and mannitol in serum: results in celiac disease.

To date, tests of small intestinal passive permeability have involved the ingestion of test molecules whose permeation is assessed indirectly by measuring their urinary recovery. Excretion ratios of marker molecules (eg, lactulose-to-mannitol excretion ratio, LMER) are useful clinically. Measurement of permeability markers in serum would improve the convenience of the tests. Our aim was to assess small intestinal permeability in celiac patients using serum lactulose and mannitol levels with calculation of lactulose to mannitol serum ratios (LMSR) and to compare the results with the standard methods using urinary recoveries. Twenty-four newly diagnosed celiacs and 10 control subjects were studied; 10 celiacs were restudied while established on a gluten-free diet. Test subjects and patients ingested 10 g lactulose and 2.5 g mannitol in 50 ml water. In 10 untreated celiacs and the controls, blood was taken from 0 to 120 min and all urine was collected for 6 hr. The remaining 14 untreated and the 10 treated celiacs had a single serum sample taken 60 min after ingestion of the test solution. At 1 hr after ingestion, the mean mannitol level in normals (0.156 mmol/liter) was significantly higher than in untreated celiacs (0.06 mmol/liter). The 1-hr mean serum lactulose level in normals (0.125 micromol/liter) was significantly lower than in untreated celiacs (0.56 micromol/liter). The median 1-hr LMSR in untreated celiacs was 0.42 compared with 0.039 in normals and 0.08 in treated celiacs. There was a significant correlation between LMSR and LMER. Permeability testing using serum measurements of lactulose and mannitol gave comparable results in celiac patients to the tests using urinary recovery of the permeability markers and may prove to be more convenient, especially in pediatric patients.