• Cinzia Papadia, Roy A Sherwood, Chrysostomos Kalantzis, Katharina Wallis, Umberto Volta, Erica Fiorini, and Alastair Forbes.
• Department of Gastroenterology, University College Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
• Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2007 Jul 1; 102 (7): 1474-82.

ObjectivesPostabsorptive plasma citrulline concentration has been proposed as a reliable marker of small bowel absorptive capacity in short bowel patients. The aim of this study was to address the potentially confounding impact of intestinal inflammation.MethodsFifty-five patients were selected according to diagnosis, small bowel length, and degree of bowel inflammation. (a) Crohn's disease (CD) with massive small bowel resection leaving 220) (N = 7), (d) CD without resection or active inflammation (normal CRP and CDAI <150) (N = 9), (e) mesenteric infarction (MI) with resection leaving ResultsThe plasma citrulline strongly correlated with small bowel length (P < 0.0001) and xylose absorption (P < 0.001). No correlation was found with CDAI, permeability, CRP, albumin, sedimentation rate, white cell count, or platelet count. Citrulline was significantly higher (P < 0.0004) in CD and MI patients with a remnant small bowel length of 50-150 cm (mean 21.0 micromol/L) than in those with length ConclusionsPlasma citrulline concentration is a simple and reliable surrogate for small bowel absorptive capacity and is not influenced by intestinal inflammation.

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