Table 2.

Intestinal absorption and permeability tests in 42 HIV-infected patients with and without diarrhoea and weight loss (mean ± s.d.).

	Controls*	Group A	Group B	Group C	P value
d-xylose serum concentration (mmol l−1)(1)	–	2.14 ± 0.74	2.15 ± 1.2	2.16 ± 0.84	0.5
Faecal fat excretion (g day−1)(2)	–	5.4 ± 2.4	5.2 ± 4.8	5.1 ± 2.5	0.14
Faecal nitrogen excretion (g day−1)(3)	–	1.5 ± 0.8	1.7 ± 0.9	1.2 ± 0.6	0.27
L/M ratio**	0.043 ± 0.017	0.045 ± 0.03	0.08 ± 0.1	0.19 ± 0.28	0.32

⁽¹⁾Normal value, > 1.7 mmol l⁻¹.

⁽²⁾Normal range, 2–6 g day⁻¹.

⁽³⁾Normal range, 0.8–2 g day⁻¹.

^*n = 8.

^**Lactulose/Mannitol urinary ratio.