Increased intestinal macromolecular permeability and urine nitrite excretion associated with liver cirrhosis with ascites.

Aim: To determine intestinal permeability, the serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha level and urine nitric oxide (NO) metabolites are altered in liver cirrhosis (LC) with or without ascites.

Methods: Fifty-three patients with LC and 26 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. The intestinal permeability value is expressed as the percentage of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 and 3350 retrieval in 8-h urine samples as determined by high performance liquid chromatography.