Gastroduodenal and intestinal permeability in primary biliary cirrhosis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate gastrointestinal permeability in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), using a sensitive method to detect epithelial damage, and to correlate it with the Mayo score, histological stage, ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, endoscopic signs of portal hypertension and Helicobacter pylori infection.

METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients with PBC and 39 patients with cirrhosis of other aetiologies (non-PBC) were enrolled in the study. Coeliac disease was initially ruled out in all participants. Permeability was assessed using sucrose (gastro-duodenum) and lactulose-mannitol (intestine).

RESULTS: Sucrose excretion was above the limit in both PBC and non-PBC patients. Twenty-two per cent of PBC patients had an increased result for the lactulose-mannitol test compared to 12.8% of non-PBC cirrhotic patients. PBC patients had high sucrose excretion levels irrespective of the presence of any oesophageal varices, which significantly increased the gastroduodenal permeability in non-PBC patients only when associated with hypertensive gastropathy. Sucrose excretion was significantly enhanced by hypertensive gastropathy in non-PBC patients (P < 0.001) but not in PBC patients. No significant correlation was found in either group between gastrointestinal permeability and the other parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: Gastrointestinal permeability is increased in PBC. Portal hypertension contributes to altered gastric mucosal permeability in non-PBC cirrhosis, whereas different epithelial dysfunction can be hypothesized in PBC.