Rapid testing of gut permeability using oral fluorescein and confocal laser endomicroscopy in Zambian adults.

Abstract

Dual sugar testing for gut permeability is time-consuming and complex. We explored the utility of fluorescein as a simple and inexpensive alternative method. We used a confocal laser endomicroscopy probe placed at the fingertip of participants who had ingested sodium fluorescein to measure the fluorescence at various time points. In 10 patients with diarrhoea, but not in 10 controls, fluorescence was detected quickly. By 6min fluorescence was detected in all diarrhoea patients but only 1 control (p=0.0004). After 15min there was no difference between the groups. This simple oral fluorescein test may be useful to study gut permeability in low-resource settings.