ABSTRACT
The differential urinary excretion of lactulose and L-rhamnose after a standard oral dose has been employed as an index of mucosal injury and its feasibility and practicability tested under field conditions. 110 children who were assessed for malnutrition also had intestinal permeability analysis. Weight-for-age were all used as indicators of malnutrition. Moderately malnourished children (75 percent weight-for-age) had significantly greater lactulose/L-rhamnose ratios (p < 0.05) than those children with normal nutrition (90 percent weight-for-afe) (0.1495 + 0.0134 vs 0.1132 + 0.0109). No significant differences were found between the differential sugar ratios of those children who had chronic (90 percent length-for-age) or acute (80 percent weight-for-height) malnutrition and those children who were normally nourished according to these classifications.