Summary. Experiments in rats with jejunal blind pouches and bacterial overgrowth demonstrate increased levels in red cells of reduced glutathione, suggesting oxidative stress on red cells, and decreased serum levels of vitamin E, a known anti‐oxidant. The urine of such animals contains increased amounts of tryptophan metabolites, some of which demonstrate strong oxidant activity as measured by methaemoglobin production in vitro. It is felt that enterogenous cyanosis, or intestinal autointoxication, does exist in this experimental model. Whether the oxidative damage previously described is due to the presence of the tryptophan metabolites, the low levels of vitamin E or both, cannot be unequivocally ascertained.
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