raffinose and Lactose-Intolerance

The sugar absorption test is a non-invasive test for investigating intestinal permeability by simultaneous measurement of four probe sugars. In this study, we evaluated the utility of raffinose, lactose, sucrose and mannitol as probe sugars and calculated their urinary recovery as a percentage of ingested dose (mol/mol) and the recovery ratios of raffinose/mannitol, lactose/ raffinose and sucrose/raffinose. The reference ranges for these ratios, established from 39 healthy volunteers, are 0.005-0.015, 0.13-0.63 and 0.09-0.47, respectively. This sugar absorption test was performed in three patient groups. i) In 109 patients with aspecific gastrointestinal symptoms of whom intestinal histology was studied by duodenal biopsies: the urinary raffinose/mannitol recovery ratio highly correlated with gradation of duodenal damage; the sensitivity and specificity of the raffinose/mannitol ratio for detection of intestinal damage were 93% and 91%, respectively, using a cut-off level of 0.020. ii) In 70 patients in whom intestinal lactase activity was investigated by the lactose tolerance test: the urinary lactose/raffinose recovery ratio provided high diagnostic accuracy for hypolactasia (sensitivity 81% and specificity 89% at a cut-off level of 0.70). In analogy with the lactose/raffinose ratio, we suppose that the sucrose/raffinose ratio can be used as a marker of hyposucrasia. iii) In 40 patients with localized small intestinal damage, Crohn's disease of the ileum (n = 21) and celiac disease with histologically proven duodenal damage (n = 19): the raffinose/mannitol recovery ratio was increased in 100% of patients with celiac disease and in 81% of patients with Crohn's disease; increased lactose/raffinose recovery ratio (hypolactasia) and increased sucrose/raffinose (hyposucrasia) were present in 89% and 95% of celiac patients and 19% and 0% of Crohn's disease patients, respectively. The combination of the raffinose/mannitol ratio and sucrose/raffinose ratio appears to be an indication of the distribution of intestinal damage.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biopsy; Blood Glucose; Carbohydrates; Celiac Disease; Crohn Disease; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Duodenoscopy; Female; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Humans; Intestinal Absorption; Intestinal Mucosa; Lactose; Lactose Intolerance; Lactose Tolerance Test; Male; Mannitol; Middle Aged; Raffinose; ROC Curve; Sucrose

1. In order to develop an improved differential sugar absorption test for simultaneously assessing intestinal permeability and lactose intolerance, methods were established for determining raffinose, lactose and L-arabinose in human urine. Using NAD(P)H-coupled enzymatic assays and fluorimetry, each sugar was measurable over a concentration range of approximately 3-300 mumol/l in diluted urine specimens. 2. After an overnight fast, 40 normal volunteers drank an iso-osmotic solution containing raffinose, lactose and L-arabinose. The median 5 h urinary sugar excretion was 0.26% of the ingested raffinose, 0.05% of lactose and 17.5% of L-arabinose. 3. In 143 patients with gastrointestinal disease, excretion of both ingested raffinose and lactose was significantly increased in coeliac disease in relapse or in partial remission and in Crohn's disease, but not in the irritable bowel syndrome, coeliac disease in remission or ulcerative colitis. Excretion of lactose, but not raffinose, was increased in patients with mucosal lactase deficiency, whereas excretion of L-arabinose was reduced in all disease groups except ulcerative colitis. 4. Discrimination between diseases was poor when based on individual sugar recoveries, but improved dramatically when excretion was expressed relative to that of L-arabinose. The raffinose/L-arabinose excretion ratio, an index of intestinal permeability, was greater than 0.08 in 15/15 untreated coeliac patients but less than 0.06 in all normal subjects and in 9/9 lactase-deficient patients, 15/16 recovered coeliac patients, 5/6 patients with ulcerative colitis, 13/16 patients with Crohn's disease and 61/62 patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arabinose; Carbohydrates; Celiac Disease; Female; Humans; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Intestinal Absorption; Intestinal Diseases; Lactose; Lactose Intolerance; Male; Middle Aged; Raffinose

Following ion-exchange chromatography and subsequent thin-layer chromatography, 3 peculiar oligosaccharide excretion patterns were distinguished in 3 patients with beta-galactosidase deficiency. Each patient differed clinically and it is proposed that this method may be of use in characterizing various forms of beta-galactosidase deficiency.

Topics: Child; Child, Preschool; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Fructose; Humans; Lactose; Lactose Intolerance; Male; Oligosaccharides; Raffinose