Summary
1. Absorption from the intestinal lumen ofd-xylose, glucose, fat, and triolein-I131 was studied in 9 control subjects and in 9 patients with cirrhosis of the liver, using a nonabsorbable reference substance, polyethylene glycol (PEG). The metabolite/PEG index was determined in the test meals and in samples of intestinal contents obtained by jejunal intubation, and the results in both groups were compared.
2. In the group of cirrhotics, the volume of intestinal contents was found to be significantly higher than in the control group.
3. The fatty acids/PEG and triolein-I131/PEG indexes were higher in cirrhotics than in the control group. This was attributed to an altered absorption of fats in patients with liver cirrhosis.
4. The glucose/PEG andd-xylose/PEG indexes in cirrhotics were not significantly different from those in the control group.
5. The values for amylase, lipase, andpH in the intestinal contents were similar in the patients with cirrhosis and the control group.
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We are indebted to Lederle Laboratories (Pearl River) for the generous donation ofd-xylose, PEG, and the reagents employed in the determinations.
We thank Dr. Italo Zanzi from the Radioisotopes Department of the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile for his advice and the equipment he put at our disposal for the determinations of triolein-I131.
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Oberhauser, E., Matte, H.O., Salinas, A. et al. Further studies on intestinal absorption in liver cirrhosis, using an intraintestinal reference substance (polyethylene glycol). Digest Dis Sci 7, 699–711 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02236108
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02236108