Passage of molecules through the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Intestinal permeability to polyethyleneglycol 1 000 in patients with Crohn's disease.

We have investigated the intestinal permeability to polyethyleneglycol (PEG) 1 000 in 25 healthy individuals and 28 patients with Crohn's disease who had undergone ileocolic resection. The intestinal permeability was determined by measuring the 6-hour urinary recovery after oral intake of 10 g PEG 1 000. The patients with Crohn's disease excreted significantly less (p less than 0.001) PEG 1 000 than the healthy individuals (33.7 +/- 16.0 per thousand of the ingested dose vs. 48.6 +/- 15.5 per thousand). There was a correlation between the urinary output and the length of ileal resection, but no difference in output between patients with and without recurrent disease or episodic arthralgia. These findings indicate that, although the gut is considerably permeable to larger, polar molecules, and permeability to PEG 1 000 in Crohn's disease is not increased over that in healthy individuals and appears unrelated to the presence of recurrence and arthralgia.