The serum D-xylose test as a useful tool to identify malabsorption in rats with antigen specific gut inflammatory reaction

Summary The inappropriate immune response to foods, such as peanut, wheat and milk may be the basis in the pathogenesis of enteropathies like coeliac and Crohn disease, which present small intestinal malabsorption. A number of recent studies have utilized d‐xylose absorption as an investigative tool to study small intestinal function in a variety of clinical settings. Thus, the aim of this experimental study was to evaluate the intestinal absorption of d‐xylose in an antigen‐specific gut inflammatory reaction rat model. Animals of the experimental group were inoculated with peanut protein extract before their exposure to a challenge diet containing exclusively peanut seeds to induce the gut inflammatory reaction caused by peanut allergy. Our results show that systemic inoculation with peanut protein extract renders significantly higher antibody titres (5.085 ± 0.126 units) (P