Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Nutritional aspects and quality of life in gastroesophageal cancer patients that underwent colonic interposition.

Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus·2026

Same author

Fat malabsorption and reduced exocrine pancreatic function after gastroesophageal cancer surgery.

Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract·2026

Same author

Filgotinib Is an Effective and Safe Treatment Option for Difficult-To-Treat Ulcerative Colitis: Real-World Evidence of the Dutch Initiative on Crohn and Colitis (ICC) Registry.

United European gastroenterology journal·2025

Same author

Innovating Thiopurine Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on DNA-Thioguanine Nucleotides (DNA-TG) as an Inclusive Biomarker in Thiopurine Therapy.

Clinical pharmacokinetics·2024

Same author

Micronutrient deficiencies and anemia in the follow-up after gastroesophageal cancer surgery.

Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus·2024

Same author

Abdominal pain in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in remission: A prospective study on contributing factors.

Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Important Endpoints and Proliferative Markers to Assess Small Intestinal Injury and Adaptation using a Mouse Model of Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis

Important Endpoints and Proliferative Markers to Assess Small Intestinal Injury and Adaptation using a Mouse Model of Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis

Published on: May 12, 2019

The citrulline generation test: proposal for a new enterocyte function test.

J H C Peters¹, N J Wierdsma, T Teerlink

¹Small Bowel Diseases Unit, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. jhc.peters@vumc.nl

Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

|March 12, 2008

Summary

A new citrulline generation test (CGT) shows promise for assessing enterocyte function. This test, using an oral alanine-glutamine bolus, effectively measures plasma citrulline changes in healthy individuals and patients with conditions affecting enterocyte mass.

More Related Videos

Assessment of Gut Barrier Integrity in Mice Using Fluorescein-Isothiocyanate-Labeled Dextran

Assessment of Gut Barrier Integrity in Mice Using Fluorescein-Isothiocyanate-Labeled Dextran

Published on: November 18, 2022

Analyzing Beneficial Effects of Nutritional Supplements on Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Functions During Experimental Colitis

Analyzing Beneficial Effects of Nutritional Supplements on Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Functions During Experimental Colitis

Published on: January 5, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Important Endpoints and Proliferative Markers to Assess Small Intestinal Injury and Adaptation using a Mouse Model of Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis

Important Endpoints and Proliferative Markers to Assess Small Intestinal Injury and Adaptation using a Mouse Model of Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis

Published on: May 12, 2019

Assessment of Gut Barrier Integrity in Mice Using Fluorescein-Isothiocyanate-Labeled Dextran

Assessment of Gut Barrier Integrity in Mice Using Fluorescein-Isothiocyanate-Labeled Dextran

Published on: November 18, 2022

Analyzing Beneficial Effects of Nutritional Supplements on Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Functions During Experimental Colitis

Analyzing Beneficial Effects of Nutritional Supplements on Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Functions During Experimental Colitis

Published on: January 5, 2017

Area of Science:

Gastroenterology
Biochemistry
Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

Enterocytes primarily produce citrulline from glutamine.
Fasting plasma citrulline is an unreliable biomarker for enterocyte dysfunction.
A novel citrulline generation test (CGT) is proposed to evaluate enterocyte function.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the feasibility of the CGT in healthy subjects.
To assess CGT performance in patients with reduced enterocyte mass.
To establish CGT as a reliable diagnostic tool for enterocyte dysfunction.

Main Methods:

Administration of an oral 20g alanine-glutamine bolus to 19 healthy subjects and 25 patients (intestinal villous atrophy and short bowel syndrome).
Measurement of plasma citrulline and amino acid concentrations via reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
Analysis of time-dependent changes and incremental area under the curve (iAUC T90) for plasma citrulline.

Main Results:

Healthy subjects exhibited a significant time-dependent increase in plasma citrulline (44 +/- 13%, P < 0.0001).
CGT demonstrated reduced citrulline generation in patients with coeliac disease (CeD) and refractory CeD compared to healthy controls.
CGT differentiated between adapted and non-adapted short bowel syndrome (SBS) patients based on iAUC T90 (P = 0.04).

Conclusions:

An oral alanine-glutamine bolus reliably induces a time-dependent increase in plasma citrulline.
The magnitude of citrulline increase correlates with enterocyte status, reflecting villous atrophy or hyperplasia.
CGT is a feasible and effective method for assessing enterocyte function in various gastrointestinal conditions.