Measurement of intestinal permeability using 51Cr-EDTA

Intestinal permeability tests are a new class of tests of which the 51Cr-EDTA seemed the easiest to perform. We have evaluated the 8- and 24-h urinary excretion of ingested 51Cr-EDTA in 38 subjects. Twenty-seven patients with diseases not affecting the integrity of the small bowel served as controls. The test group consisted of two patients with celiac, six with Crohn's disease, and three with ulcerative colitis. Nineteen (70.37%) of the control patients had an abnormal test (more than 2.6% in 24 h). The patients with ulcerative colitis had normal excretion (mean 1.95% in 24 h). The patients with celiac disease had an elevated excretion (mean 3.62% in 24 h) and five out of six patients with Crohn's disease also had an increased excretion (mean 6.2% in 24 h). The elevated 51Cr-EDTA excretion in the control patients casts serious doubts on the validity of the test. Possible causes for abnormal excretion in the controls include various medications used by the patients as well as changes in the chromatographic mobility of 51Cr-EDTA, demonstrated by us after incubation with gastric juice.