oxalates and Pancreatic-Diseases

Topics: Ethanol; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Humans; Intestinal Absorption; Malabsorption Syndromes; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Oxalates; Pancreas; Pancreatic Diseases; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreatitis; Triglycerides

Topics: Bile Acids and Salts; Child; Cholelithiasis; Cholestasis; Diarrhea; Fats; Gastroenteritis; Humans; Ileum; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Intestinal Absorption; Liver; Liver Circulation; Liver Cirrhosis; Malabsorption Syndromes; Oxalates; Pancreatic Diseases

Urinary oxalate excretion was measured in healthy persons and patients with Crohn's disease, colitis ulcerosa, sprue and other diseases accompanied with malabsorption, and patients with insufficiency of the exocrine pancreas gland. Further measurements were made in patients after resection of parts of the small intestine or the colon. We found a clear increase of urinary oxalate excretion in patients with resected parts of the small intestine, sprue or other malabsorption syndromes. In 4 patients with resected parts of small intestine or pancreas we even found urolithiasis. Urinary oxalate excretion correlated significantly with steatorrhoea and increased if larger parts of small intestine were resected. Increased resorption of oxalate from food causes increased urinary excretion. Details about the patho-mechanism of this increased excretion are not known yet; an important factor seems to be the reduced absorption of fat in the small intestine.

Topics: Adult; Celiac Disease; Colitis, Ulcerative; Crohn Disease; Feces; Female; Humans; Intestinal Diseases; Intestine, Large; Intestine, Small; Lipids; Malabsorption Syndromes; Male; Middle Aged; Oxalates; Pancreatic Diseases; Urinary Calculi

24-hour urinary outputs of oxalate, calcium, and magnesium have been determined in a total of 62 children aged 3 months to 17 years who fell into the following groups: (i) 16 normal controls, (ii) 3 with primary hyperoxaluria, (iii) 9 with small and/or large intestinal resections, (iv) 9 with untreated coeliac disease, (v) 5 with pancreatic dysfunction, and (vi) a miscellaneous group of 20 children with a variety of intestinal disorders. Taken as a whole, 58% of patients with intestinal disorders had hyperoxaluria, and of these 7% had urinary outputs of oxalate which fell within the range seen in primary hyperoxaluria. The proportion of children with hyperoxaluria in the different diagnostic groups was as follows: intestinal resections (78%), coeliac disease (67%), pancreatic dysfunction (80%), and miscellaneous (45%). 35% of the patients with hyperoxaluria had hypercalciuria, whereas magnesium excretion was normal in all subjects studied. In 2 patients treatment of the underlying condition was accompanied by a return of oxalate excretion to normal. These results indicate that hyperoxaluria and hypercalciuria are common in children with a variety of intestinal disorders, and that such children may be at risk of developing renal calculi without early diagnosis and treatment.

Topics: Adolescent; Calcium; Celiac Disease; Child; Child, Preschool; Colon; Glutens; Humans; Infant; Intestinal Absorption; Intestinal Diseases; Kidney Calculi; Liver Diseases; Magnesium; Oxalates; Pancreatic Diseases