Urinary Polyol Profiles in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases and Their Correlation with Severity, as Obtained by Capillary Gas Chromatography

Abstract

A capillary gas chromatographic method for urinary polyol profiling analysis was applied to a study of urinary polyols in patients with chronic liver diseases. There was no statistically significant difference in any urinary polyols between the groups with and without glucose infusion. Ribitol, xylitol and sorbitol in patients significantly increased, and arabitol significantly decreased compared with the amounts from normal subjects. It is striking that the decrease of arabitol and the increased abnormal incidence of mannitol and sorbitol were well correlated with the severity of chronic liver diseases according to the Child-Turcott Classification. Urinary polyol profiling analysis may be useful in assessment of hepatic functional reserve.