Water, fat, nitrogen, and sugar content in feces: reference intervals in children

Abstract

Malabsorption-maldigestion syndromes are commonly found in several gastrointestinal diseases. Quantitative measures of fecal nutrients are important tools for the detection and diagnosis of these syndromes. Adequate food intake is important in the nutrition of children, especially during the first year of life. We have analyzed 180 stools of healthy children, divided into four age groups, to obtain the reference intervals of the major nutrients such as water, fat, nitrogen, sugar, and starch. Quantification of the nutrients was done by means of a near-infrared analyzer (Fenir 8820). Results show that this instrument exhibits a low coefficient of variation for all the nutrients except for starch. Fecal water, fat, nitrogen, and sugar concentrations ranged from 68.7 to 96.1 g/100 g, 0 to 14.5 g/100 g, 1.3 to 2.3 g/100 g, and 0.7 to 3.8 g/100 g, respectively. The results for the starch analyses were not acceptable because of instrument limitations. Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy appears to be an alternative to standard chemical methods.

Review: Near Infrared Spectroscopy of Faeces to Evaluate the Nutrition and Physiology of Herbivores

“…[57][58][59][60][61][62][63] diode array instruments, usually scanning in the 400-1700 nm range, but also in the 400-1100 nm range, and used in reflectance, transflectance or with fibre-optic probes, have been examined with varying degrees of success. [64][65][66] a few studies have reported the use of filter 8,10,67 or ft-nIr instruments. 9 chemometric analysis of faecal nIr spectra has generally followed the procedures developed for forage analysis.…”

“…In addition, studies in medical science have examined nIr spectroscopy to measure constituents of human faeces important in identifying disease states such as abnormal digestion (for example, nitrogen (n), fat, sugar and water); benefits were associated with improved cost, timeliness and convenience in handling unpleasant samples. [8][9][10] another application of nIr spectroscopy of faeces has been online imaging for rapid detection of surface faecal contamination of poultry carcasses during processing in abattoirs. 11,12 an unusual alternative approach to using nIr spectroscopy of faeces to improve understanding of the nutrition and ecology of grazing herbivores is to directly relate faecal nIr spectra to attributes of the diet.…”

Bomb calorimetry, the gold standard for assessment of intestinal absorption capacity: normative values in healthy ambulant adults

“…Only seven small studies have reported on stool nutrient contents and intestinal nutrient absorption in healthy subjects. Two studies determined energy and nutrient stool contents of healthy children (Rivero-Marcotegui et al, 1998;Van den Neucker et al, 2003). Four studies focused on nutrient absorption in healthy adults, of which one study compared the nutrient absorption of European adolescents with that of elderly individuals (66-78 years) on diets with different energy densities in a metabolic unit setting (Southgate & Durnin, 1970).…”

Biomarkers of Nutrition and Health: New Tools for New Approaches

“…Faeces are a relevant biological source for assessing the non-absorption of nutrients [98,99], the balance of a non-metabolizable ingredient (for example, nitrogen or trace metals that are excreted in bile) [100], as well as to analyse the gastrointestinal microbiota or its products [101,102,103]. Stool samples can also be used to assess biomarkers for enteropathy, which is attractive for infants for whom invasive samples are difficult to obtain [104].…”