PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hill, P G
AU  - Ross, I N
AU  - Jacob, R
AU  - Jyotheeswaran, S
AU  - Mathan, V I
TI  - One-hour serum xylose as an absorption test in the tropics.
AID  - 10.1136/jcp.34.2.174
DP  - 1981 Feb 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 174--178
VI  - 34
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/34/2/174.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/34/2/174.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol1981 Feb 01; 34
AB  - The 1-hour serum xylose (surface area corrected) as an indication of xylose absorption after 5 g oral D-xylose has been compared with the 5-hour urine excretion test in a tropical population. The study confirmed that the peak serum xylose concentration occurs at 1 hour and that correction to a constant body surface are improves the discrimination between subjects with normal and impaired xylose absorption. The significantly lower reference range for the 1-hour surface area corrected serum xylose (0.55-1.11 mmol/l) compared to the UK figure reflects the reduced absorptive capacity of the jejunum, a result of tropical enteropathy. In view of the difficulties in obtaining accurate urine collections in tropical countries, especially in field studies, it is recommended that the 1-hour serum xylose (surface area corrected) should be adopted as the standard test of xylose absorption.