Application of fluorescent tracer agent technology to point-of-care gastrointestinal permeability measurement

Richard B. Dorshow, Jeng Jong Shieh, Thomas E. Rogers, Carla Hall-Moore, Nurmohammad Shaikh, Michael Talcott, Phillip I. Tarr

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Gut dysfunction, often accompanied by increased mucosal permeability to gut contents, frequently accompanies a variety of human intestinal inflammatory conditions. These disorders include inflammatory bowel diseases (e.g., Crohn's Disease) and environmental enteropathy and enteric dysfunction, a condition strongly associated with childhood malnutrition and stunting in resource poor areas of the world. The most widely used diagnostic assay for gastrointestinal permeability is the lactulose to mannitol ratio (L:M) measurement. These sugars are administered orally, differentially absorbed by the gut, and then cleared from the body by glomerular filtration in the kidney. The amount of each sugar excreted in the urine is measured. The larger sugar, lactulose, is minimally absorbed through a healthy gut. The smaller sugar, mannitol, in contrast, is readily absorbed through both a healthy and injured gut. Thus a higher ratio of lactulose to mannitol reflects increased intestinal permeability. However, several issues prevent widespread use of the L:M ratio in clinical practice. Urine needs to be collected over time intervals of several hours, the specimen then needs to be transported to an analytical laboratory, and sophisticated equipment is required to measure the concentration of each sugar in the urine. In this presentation we show that fluorescent tracer agents with molecular weights similar to those of the sugars, selected from our portfolio of biocompatible renally cleared fluorophores, mimic the L:M ratio test for gut permeability. This fluorescent tracer agent detection technology can be used to overcome the limitations of the L:M assay, and is amenable to point-of-care clinical use.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationReporters, Markers, Dyes, Nanoparticles, and Molecular Probes for Biomedical Applications VIII
EditorsRamesh Raghavachari, Samuel Achilefu
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781628419573
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2016
EventReporters, Markers, Dyes, Nanoparticles, and Molecular Probes for Biomedical Applications VIII - San Francisco, United States
Duration: Feb 15 2016Feb 16 2016

Publication series

NameProgress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE
Volume9723
ISSN (Print)1605-7422

Conference

ConferenceReporters, Markers, Dyes, Nanoparticles, and Molecular Probes for Biomedical Applications VIII
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period02/15/1602/16/16

Keywords

  • Fluorescent tracer agent
  • enteropathy
  • fluorescence
  • gastrointestinal permeability
  • lactulose to mannitol ratio measurement
  • optical monitoring
  • pyrazine

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