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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Fructose-sorbitol malabsorption
Fernando Fernández-Bañares1, Maria Esteve, Josep M Viver
1Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitari Mutua Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. ffbanares@mutuaterrassa.es
Abstract:
Important dietary carbohydrates such as fructose and sorbitol are incompletely absorbed in the normal small intestine. This malabsorption is sometimes associated with abdominal complaints and diarrhea development, symptoms indistinguishable from those of functional bowel disease. Recently, polymerized forms of fructose (fructans) also were implicated in symptom production in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Evidence from uncontrolled and controlled challenge studies suggests that malabsorbed sugars (fructose, sorbitol, lactose) and fructans may act as dietary triggers for clinical symptoms suggestive of IBS. Further placebo-controlled studies are needed to obtain definite conclusions about the role of dietary sugar malabsorption in functional bowel disease.
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