[Determination of intestinal permeability in cholelithiasis patients by oral administration of technetium-99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetatic acid].

Objective: To investigate the intestinal permeability of patients with cholelithiasis of different types.
Methods: Technetium-99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetatic acid (99mTc-DTPA) at the dose of 185 MBq (5 mCi) was administered orally to 56 patients of cholelithiasis, 15 cases of cholesterol stone (CS group) and 41 cases of pigment stone (PS group) based on the cross section of the stone during operation, and 17 healthy controls. A 24 h urine collection was obtained after the ingestion of the tracer to calculate the urinary excretion of DTPA.
Results: The mean percentage of the total ingested dose of 99mTc-DTPA excreted in a 24 h urinary excretion was 5.0%+/-3.6% in the CS group, not significantly different from that in the control group (4.5%+/-3.4%. F=2.18, P>0.05), and the mean percentage of the total ingested dose of 99mTc-DTPA excreted in a 24 h urinary excretion of the PS group was 10.5%+/-6.9%, significantly higher than that in the control group (F=7.62, P<0.05), showing a significantly increase of intestinal permeability (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The intestinal permeability of the patients of pigment stone is higher than that of the healthy subjects. Hyperpermeability may be a factor of the pathogenesis of pigment stone.