Mayo Clinic Laboratories > Gastroenterology > Malabsorption > Disaccharidase deficiency

Disaccharidase deficiency

Advanced testing to pinpoint diagnosis

Patients with disaccharidase deficiencies in the duodenum can experience intolerances to foods containing complex sugars, resulting in a range of gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain and cramping, gas, bloating, and nausea. These common symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed as a food allergy or intolerance.

Disaccharidase deficiency Test menu

Disaccharidase deficiency Disaccharidase deficiency

Disaccharidase deficiency

Our testing to evaluate patients for disaccharidase deficiency can assist in diagnosis when serological testing, X-ray and ultrasound imaging, and breath testing come back negative. The disaccharides activity panel examines tissue samples, which have been taken as part of endoscopy, to gain quantitative values of lactase, sucrase, maltase, palatinase, and glucoamylase.

Key testing

Advantages

  • Gold standard for diagnosing disaccharidase deficiencies, which can cause chronic conditions like celiac disease.
  • Measures levels of five naturally occurring digestive enzymes to detect deficiencies that affect carbohydrate absorption.
  • Clinical interpretation of results is provided.

Highlights

Disaccharidase Activity Panel [Test in Focus]

Pua Hopson, D.O., discusses Mayo Clinic Labs’ new disaccharidase activity panel, which measures levels of five digestive enzymes to identify deficiencies that cause carbohydrate maldigestion and can lead to chronic conditions like celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease. Performed on tissue sample biopsies during upper endoscopy, the activity panel is the gold standard test for detecting disaccharidase deficiencies.

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