A 41-year-old patient presented with chronic diarrhea from last 3 months. A D xylose absorption test will reveal which of the following:

Ans. A Carbohydrate malabsorption due to mucosal disorderRef: Methods in Disease: Investigating the Gastrointestinal Tract by Victor R Preddy pg. 43* Xylose is a pentose sugar and is absorbed directly from intestinal nucosa.* D xylose will reveal carbohydrate malabsorption due to mucosal disorder, but in malabsorption due to pancreatic disease, the D-xylose test should be normal.* Due to high false positives and ease of obtaining small intestinal biopsy after endoscopy, intestinal biopsy is the preferred method.