Undernutrition, Vitamin A and Iron Deficiency Are Associated with Impaired Intestinal Mucosal Permeability in Young Bangladeshi Children Assessed by Lactulose/Mannitol Test

Lactulose/mannitol (L:M) test has been used as a non-invasive marker of intestinal mucosal -integrity and -permeability (enteropathy). We investigated the association of enteropathy with anthropometrics, micronutrient- status, and morbidity in children.The urine and blood samples were collected from 925 children aged 6–24 months residing in Mirpur slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh during November 2009 to April 2013. L:M test and micronutrient status were assessed in the laboratory of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) following standard procedure. = 0.066; p = 0.027). However, most of the correlations were not very strong. Approximately 44% of children had enteropathy as reflected by L:M of ≥0.09. Logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age (infancy) (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.35; p = 0.027), diarrhea (AOR = 4.00; p = 0.039) or fever (AOR = 2.18; p = 0.003) within previous three days of L:M test were the risk factors of enteropathy (L:M of ≥0.09).Enteropathy (high L:M) is associated with younger age, undernutrition, low vitamin A and iron status, and infection particularly diarrhea and fever