CARBOHYDRATE ABSORPTION IN WELL-NOURISHED MEXICAN CHILDREN.pdfVIP

EFFECTS OF ASYMPTOMATIC GIARDIA INTESTINALIS INFECTION ON CARBOHYDRATE ABSORPTION IN WELL-NOURISHED MEXICAN CHILDREN SILVIA Y. MOYA-CAMARENA, NORBERTO SOTELO, AND MAURO E. VALENCIA Centro de Investigacio?n en Alimentacio?n y Desarrollo, A. C. and Hospital Infantil del Estado de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico Abstract. The aim of this study was to evaluate carbohydrate absorption in well-nourished children with asymp- tomatic giardiasis. Two groups were selected based on results of stool examination of 211 children attending pre-school centers in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico: a control group of six non-infected children, and an infected group of seven children harboring Giardia intestinalis, without gastrointestinal symptoms of disease. Carbohydrate absorption was determined in the control group, before and after drug therapy in the infected group by the hydrogen breath test. Hydrogen production after lactose ingestion was higher in children with giardiasis compared with control group and after anti-parasite treatment; however, hydrogen production was not high enough to classify children as lactose malabsorbers by the cut-off criteria. Similar results were obtained for xylose absorption. None of the children had hydrogen increments high enough to be considered xylose malabsorbers. In conclusion, children asymptomatically infected with G. intestinalis showed significantly higher hydrogen production. However, the biological relevance is questionable since they did not exceed cut-off criteria to classify them as carbohydrate malabsorbers. INTRODUCTION Giardia intestinalis is the most common intestinal parasite identified worldwide. In industrialized countries, G. intestina- lis infection may reach a prevalence of 2–7%, whereas in developing countries the prevalence may reach as high as 20–60%.1 This parasite colonizes and proliferates in the upper part of the small intestine. In humans, the infection produced by G. intestinalis (giardiasis) may produce several symptom