Measurement of urinary sugars by HPLC in the estimation of intestinal permeability: evaluation in pediatric clinical practice.

Determinations of the permeability of the intestine to various sugars have been used to assess intestinal mucosal abnormalities, but the widespread application of such tests has been prohibited by the complexity of most classically used techniques. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity and practicability of using HPLC to estimate intestinal permeability, with mannitol and lactulose as mono- and disaccharides, respectively. The results of the permeability tests were compared with those of intestinal biopsy in 20 children. All patients with an abnormal intestinal biopsy showed a low mannitol recovery, and the patients with allergic symptoms showed a high lactulose recovery. Our preliminary data suggest that HPLC is reliable, gives results comparable with those of other methods, and is a practical way to determine intestinal permeability noninvasively.