The Double Sugar Test of Intestinal Permeability in the Elderly

Saweirs, W. M.; Andrews, D. J.; Low-Beer, T S

doi:10.1093/ageing/14.5.312

Cited by 46 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…Some small studies have demonstrated no significant change to the permeability of lactose and mannitol associated with ageing (21)(22)(23) . Further studies are needed to explore changes in intestinal permeability with ageing as these are likely to affect how the mucous membrane interacts with the luminal contents including the small-and large-intestinal microbiome to cause disease or inflammation.…”

Section: Small Bowelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ageing and the gut

Britton

McLaughlin

2012

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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The goal of this brief review is to address the role of the ageing gut in the genesis of malnutrition in the elderly. We assess the burden of malnutrition in the elderly, exploring the role of comorbid conditions and neurohumoral changes that take place to contribute towards the process of anorexia associated with ageing. Following this, the review assesses physiological changes that occur in each part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and what implication they may have in clinical practice. In the oropharynx and the oesophagus, changes in swallowing and oesophageal motility associated with ageing can be demonstrated using physiological testing. However, in the absence of comorbid disease, they often have little, if any, clinical significance. In the stomach, reduced fundal compliance may contribute to early satiety; however, the primary change is hypochlorhydria, which may predispose to malabsorption or bacterial overgrowth further along the GI tract. Almost uniquely, the small bowel, particularly its absorptive function, is unaffected by age and we review the literature demonstrating this. In the colon, there is evidence of a prolonged transit time related to a reduction in both neurotransmitters and receptors. Although this may cause symptoms, this aspect is unlikely to contribute to malnutrition. In addition, we assess the potential changes in the gut microbiome and how this may interact with the immune system in the process of ‘inflamm-ageing’. We conclude by summarising the main changes and their impact for the clinician along with recommendations for future areas of research.

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Section: Small Bowelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ageing and the gut

Britton

McLaughlin

2012

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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“…Comparing more broadly across non-flying mammals (filled diamonds, values are means for individual studies), using data obtained from the literature, we find that paracellular absorption is consistently higher in common marmosets. Human data included in this figure (grey filled diamonds) and used in analyses were obtained from the literature [Bjarnason et al, 1995;Brunetto et al, 1990;Chediack et al, 2003;Cobden et al, 1985;Erikson and Epsten, 1988;Farhadi et al, 2003;Fleming et al, 1990Fleming et al, , 1993Generoso et al, 2003;Menzies, 1974;Menzies et al, 1990Menzies et al, , 1983Menzies et al, , 1999Noone et al, 1986;Saweirs et al, 1985;Turner et al, 2000;Wheeler et al, 1978]. Data for other non-flying mammals, which include cat, dog, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit and laboratory rat, are from [Bijlsma et al, 1995;Delahunty & Hollander, 1987;Lavin et al, 2004;Martin et al, 2003;Pappenheimer, 1990;Schwartz et al, 1995;Sigalet et al, 1996Sigalet et al, , 2000Sørensen et al, 1993].…”

Section: Is Reliance On Paracellular Nutrient Absorption Taxon-specifmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paracellular nutrient absorption in a gum‐feeding new world primate, the common marmoset Callithrix jacchus

McWhorter

Karasov

2007

American J Primatol

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The common marmoset is one of the few callitrichid species that is not threatened or endangered in the wild, and is widely used in biomedical research, yet relatively little is understood about its digestive physiology. Dietary specialization on plant exudates has lead to relatively reduced small intestines, yet the common marmoset has exceptional dietary breadth, allowing it to successfully utilize a variety of habitats. We predicted that passive, paracellular nutrient absorption would be used by the common marmoset to a greater extent than in other non-flying mammals. We measured the bioavailability and rates of absorption of two metabolically inert carbohydrates not transported by mediated pathways (L-rhamnose and cellobiose, molecular masses of 164 and 342, respectively) to measure paracellular uptake, and of a non-metabolized D-glucose analog (3-O-methyl-D-glucose) to measure total uptake by both mediated and paracellular pathways. We found high bioavailability of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (83+/-5%), and much higher bioavailability of the paracellular probes than in similarly sized non-flying mammals (30+/-3% and 19+/-2% for L-rhamnose and cellobiose, respectively). Passive, paracellular nutrient absorption accounts for around 30% of total glucose absorption in common marmosets and intestinal permeability is significantly higher than in humans, the only other species of primate measured to date. This may allow the common marmoset to maintain high digestive efficiency when feeding on higher quality foods (fruit, arthropods, gums with higher proportions of simple sugars), in spite of relatively reduced small intestines correlated with adaptations for fermentative digestion of plant gums. We find no evidence to support, in primates, the hypothesis that reliance on paracellular nutrient absorption should increase with body size in mammals, but suggest instead that it may be associated with small body size and/or taxon-specific adaptations to diet.

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“…Paracellular absorption occurs by diffusion and by solvent drag across intestinal tight junctions secondarily to active sugar and amino acid transport (Pappenheimer and Reiss, 1987), and its magnitude declines with increasing molecular size of the transported solute because of the pathway's sieve-like qualities (Chediack et al, 2003). Therefore, our test solutions included inert (nonmetabolized and not actively transported) carbohydrates of two sizes (L-rhamnose, molecular mass [MM]=164·Da; cellobiose, 342·Da), both of which are commonly used in tests of passive (non-carrier-mediated) intestinal permeability (Cobden et al, 1985;Dinmore et al, 1994;Generoso et al, 2003;Menzies et al, 1999;Saweirs et al, 1985;Travis and Menzies, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absorption of sugars in the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus): a paradox explained

Tracy

McWhorter

Korine

et al. 2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Two decades ago D. J. Keegan reported results on Egyptian fruit bats(Rousettus aegyptiacus, Megachiroptera) that were strangely at odds with the prevailing understanding of how glucose is absorbed in the mammalian intestine. Keegan's in vitro tests for glucose transport against a concentration gradient and with phloridzin inhibition in fruit bat intestine were all negative, although he used several different tissue preparations and had positive control results with laboratory rats. Because glucose absorption by fruit bats is nonetheless efficient, Keegan postulated that the rapid glucose absorption from the fruit bat intestine is not through the enterocytes, but must occur via spaces between the cells. Thus, we hypothesized that absorption of water-soluble compounds that are not actively transported would be extensive in these bats, and would decline with increasing molecular mass in accord with sieve-like paracellular absorption. We did not presume from Keegan's studies that there is no Na+-coupled, mediated sugar transport in these bats, and our study was not designed to rule it out, but rather to quantify the level of possible non-mediated absorption. Using a standard pharmacokinetic technique, we fed,or injected intraperitonealy, the metabolically inert carbohydrates l-rhamnose (molecular mass=164 Da) and cellobiose (molecular mass=342 Da), which are absorbed by paracellular uptake, and 3-O-methyl-d-glucose (3OMd-glucose), a d-glucose analog that is absorbed via both mediated(active) and paracellular uptake. As predicted, the bioavailability of paracellular probes declined with increasing molecular mass (rhamnose,62±4%; cellobiose, 22±4%) and was significantly higher in bats than has been reported for rats and other mammals. In addition, fractional absorption of 3OMd-glucose was high (91±2%). We estimated that Egyptian fruit bats rely on passive, paracellular absorption for the majority of their glucose absorption (at least 55% of 3OMd-glucose absorption), much more than in non-flying mammals.

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The Double Sugar Test of Intestinal Permeability in the Elderly

Cited by 46 publications

References 0 publications

Ageing and the gut

Ageing and the gut

Paracellular nutrient absorption in a gum‐feeding new world primate, the common marmoset Callithrix jacchus

Absorption of sugars in the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus): a paradox explained

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