Kinetic analysis of 5 sugar probes in dog serum after orogastric administration

The objective of this study was to describe the kinetics of orally administered sugar probes in serum for the assessment of gastrointestinal permeability and intestinal absorptive capacity in dogs. Eight healthy dogs received lactulose (L), rhamnose (R), methylglucose (M), xylose (X), and sucrose (S) by orogastric intubation. Baseline blood samples and subsequently timed blood samples were taken during 24 hours. Sugars were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Statistical analysis was performed using a Friedman test with Dunn's multiple comparison post test and a Kruskal-Wallis test. Statistical significance was set at a P-value < 0.05. Sugars in serum were detected after orogastric administration. Concentrations of L and R were significantly different from the baseline from 90 to 240 and 60 to 300 min, respectively, and those of X, M, and S were different from 30 to 240 min post-dosing (P < 0.05 for all 5 probes). Maximum concentrations of L and R were obtained at 180 min, while X, M, and S reached their maximum concentrations at 90 min post-dosing. For all sugars, no statistically significant differences were found between concentrations at 90, 120, and 180 min or between the coefficients of variation (CV%) of those mean concentrations for these 3 time points. Based on these data, the collection of 2 blood samples, one taken at baseline and the other obtained between 90 and 180 minutes after dosing, might be sufficient for the determination of gastrointestinal permeability and mucosal absorptive capacity using these 5 sugar probes in canine serum.