Intestinal permeability and orocaecal transit time in elderly patients with Parkinson's disease.

The aetiology of weight loss in patients with Parkinson''s disease is likely to be multifactorial. We studied 15 patients with Parkinson''s disease 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 transit time in the patients with Parkinson''s disease, although lactulose hydrogen breath testing did not show evidence of small bowel bacterial 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 absorption was similar in both groups, suggesting decreased non-mediated uptake across the enterocyte brush border membrane in patients with Parkinson''s disease.