Original article—alimentary tractAbility of the Normal Human Small Intestine to Absorb Fructose: Evaluation by Breath Testing
Section snippets
Methods
Healthy volunteers with no previous history of gastrointestinal disorders or surgeries, antibiotic use (within 3 months), and who were not taking any medications (except oral contraceptive pills or multivitamins) were recruited through a hospital advertisement. They were asked to fill out a health symptom questionnaire and undergo a routine physical examination. Only subjects who were asymptomatic fulfilled the aforementioned inclusion criteria, and had a normal physical examination were
Results
Twenty subjects (male/female, 10/10; mean age, 31 years; range, 19 to 70 years) participated in the study.
Discussion
The capacity of the human small intestine to absorb fructose is unclear. Some studies have suggested that healthy humans malabsorb fructose at doses as low as 5 g,5 although others have found malabsorption at doses of 37.5 g or higher.8 Consequently, the assessment of dietary fructose malabsorption has remained problematic.2 Our objectives were to examine fructose absorption in healthy subjects and to facilitate the development of a breath test that can be used in patients with suspected
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Supported in part by NIH grant RO1 DK 57100-05 and grant RR00059 from the General Clinical Research Centers Program, National Center for Research Resources.