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Sucrose permeability in children with gastric damage and Helicobacter pylori infection
J F Vera1, M Gotteland, E Chavez
1Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.
Insights
Urinary sucrose excretion effectively identifies gastric mucosal damage in children, serving as a reliable, non-invasive screening tool for gastrointestinal health. This test shows high sensitivity and specificity for detecting stomach lining issues.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Gastrointestinal Physiology
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- Gastric mucosal damage can be indicated by increased permeability to sucrose in adults.
- Recurrent abdominal pain is a common complaint in children, often necessitating diagnostic evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate urinary sucrose excretion as a marker for gastric mucosal damage in children with recurrent abdominal pain.
- To correlate sucrose permeability test results with endoscopic, histologic, and Helicobacter pylori findings.
Main Methods:
- A sucrose permeability test was administered to 40 children presenting with recurrent abdominal pain.
- Results were compared against endoscopic and histologic examinations and H. pylori status.
Main Results:
- Abnormal endoscopic findings correlated significantly with increased urinary sucrose excretion (p = 0.002).
- Children with mild gastritis showed double the sucrose excretion compared to controls (p = 0.019) and higher excretion than those with duodenitis (p = 0.038).
- The sucrose permeability test demonstrated 90.3% specificity and 83.3% sensitivity for detecting gastric damage.
Conclusions:
- Urinary sucrose excretion is a valuable indicator of gastric mucosal damage in pediatric populations.
- The sucrose permeability test can be utilized as an effective screening method for large groups.
Background:
Increased permeability to sucrose has been recently shown to be a good marker of gastric mucosal damage in adults.
Methods:
This test was evaluated in 40 children consulting for recurrent abdominal pain and the results were correlated with endoscopic and histologic findings and with the presence of H. pylori.
Results:
The gastric mucosa was considered endoscopically normal in 31 children; 3 had duodenitis and 6 had mild gastritis. Abnormal endoscopic findings were associated with increased urinary sucrose excretion (MANOVA F = 7.30; p = 0.002). In the 6 children with mild gastritis, mean sucrose excretion was twice that of controls (0.060 +/- 0.024 vs. 0.029 +/- 0.018, respectively; p = 0.019) and significantly higher than the group with duodenitis (0.037 +/- 0.013; p = 0.038). The specificity and sensitivity of sucrose permeability test for detection of gastric damage were 90.3% and 83.3%, respectively. H. pylori was detected in 62.5% of children including all patients with mild gastritis, in 2 out of 3 with duodenitis and 17 out of 31 endoscopically normal controls. No differences in sucrose excretion were observed in relation with the presence of H. pylori or histological findings in the control group.
Conclusions:
Urinary sucrose excretion is a good marker of mucosal gastric damage in children and may be used as a screening test in large groups of populations.