INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY AND OROCECAL TRANSIT-TIME IN ELDERLY PATIENTSWITH PARKINSONS-DISEASE

The aetiology of weight loss in patients with Parkinson's disease is l ikely to be multifactorial. We studied 15 patients with Parkinson's di sease and 15 age- and sex-matched controls and looked for evidence of malabsorption due to small bowel bacterial overgrowth or alteration of intestinal permeability. There was a marked increase in orocaecal tra nsit time in the patients with Parkinson's disease, although lactulose hydrogen breath testing did not show evidence of small bowel bacteria l contamination. intestinal permeability measured by the differential sugar absorption test was also deranged. There was reduced absorption of mannitol in patients with Parkinson's disease while lactulose absor ption was similar in both groups, suggesting decreased non-mediated up take across the enterocyte brush border membrane in patients with Park inson's disease.