Stool analyses

Stool analysis studies include examination for microorganisms, blood, mucus, fat, osmolality, pH, electrolyte and mineral concentration, and cultures. 

Phillips S, Donaldson L, Geisler K, Per a A, Kochar R. Stool composition in factitial diarrhea a 6-year experience with stool analysis. Ann Intern Med 1995 123 97-100. 

Similar to the stool analysis used to diagnose organ deficiencies [162-167], Infante et al. used NIR to put in place a feeding regiment for constipated infants based on the measure of the stool s water content [223]. 

DIARRHEA Diarrhea may be an indication of a super-infection of the gastrointestinal tract or pseudomembranous colitis. The nurse inspects all stools and notifies the primary health care provider if diarrhea occurs because it may be necessary to stop the drug. If diarrhea does occur and there appears to be blood and mucus in the stool, it is important to save a sample of the stool and test for occult blood using a test such as Hemoccult. If the stool tests positive for blood, the nurse saves the sample for possible further laboratory analysis. 

In addition to blood, certain types of specimens are submitted to the Pediatric laboratory which would not be commonly seen elsewhere. An example of this is sweat for analysis of chloride. The process of obtaining the sweat by iontophoresis usually falls to the personnel of the Laboratory of Neonatology (17). Stool for analysis of lipids and trypsin is more commonly submitted to the Laboratory of Neonatology than to the laboratory which services the adult population. The reason for this is that one is screening for certain intestinal diseases characteristic of infants and newborns which are rare in adults. Such conditions would be celiac disease, cystic fibrosis and others. 

Phytate analysis of muffins, diet composites and stools was performed by a modification of the ferric ion precipitation method for HS-I (5) and by an ion exchange method for HS-II and -III (6). Calcium was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. 

Chlordecone, which is excreted mainly in the feces, appears to undergo enterohepatic recirculation, which limits its excretion (Boylan et al. 1978). Analysis of the amount of chlordecone excreted in the bile compared to the amount found in the stool has indicated that only 5-10% of the bile level of the pesticide is eliminated in the feces (Boylan et al. 1978). Approximately equal fractions of... 

A 7-year-old girl has a 1-month history of foul-smelling diarrhea. Upon further inquiry, the frequency seems to be 4-6 stools per day. She has also had trouble seeing at night in the past 2 weeks. Her WBC count is normal. Physical examination is entirely normal. Examination of a stool sample reveals that it is bulky and greasy. Analysis does not reveal any pathogenic microorganisms or parasites but confirms the presence of fats. 

Analysis of BAs in urine, serum, bile and stool is crucial for the diagnosis of inborn errors of BA metabolism. It is also helpful for understanding their pathophysiological role in acquired hepatic diseases and for monitoring the effects of therapy on metabolism. Several different inborn defects affecting BA synthetic pathway, have been described over last 20 years [7]. 

Faeces samples were obtained from 86 healthy subjects (34 male, 52 female, age 30 8 years) to acquire a wide inter-individual range. All individual stools were collected in their entirety during a period of 5 days in plastic containers. They were weighed and, at the end, homogenised and pooled. Aliquots of stools are lyophilised and then stored frozen at -20°C until analysis. 

Crystallographic structure analysis reveals that the rhenium atom in 27 is an extremely distorted four-legged piano stool, with the Re—C bond twisting below the plane. The Re—C single bond is somewhat long, at 2.29 A, as is the Re—O bond of the metallacycle (2.075 A), though other bond lengths are normal (Re-CO 1.876,1.935 A C-C 1.525 A, C-O 1.298 A, C=0 1.191 A). 

Each gave informed consent and was given a physical examination prior to the study. An outline of the study protocol is shown in Figure 1. Each phytate/zinc molar ratio was consumed for 15 days, three repeats of the 5-day menu cycle. Stool and urine collections were pooled for the periods as indicated in Figure 1. A fasting blood sample for serum zinc analysis was taken on days 1, 16 and 31. 

Dally composites were made of the 3200 kcal menu items (muffins were composited separately), homogenized and freeze-dried for analysis. Stools were freeze-dried and throughly mixed before sampling for analysis. A 50 ml aliquot of urine was dried in a porcelain crucible and dry ashed. Zinc analysis was by flame... 

Fecal Monitoring Method. The subjects were instructed to bring their stool samples back to the metabolic unit as soon as was possible after collection. Each sample was carefully labelled with time, date, and subject identification, and was placed in a freezer in the metabolic unit. The samples were freeze-dried, and allowed to equilibrat for 24 hours under ambient conditions. The dry weights of the samples were taken, and the samples were powdered and mixed thoroughly to provide homogeneous portions for analysis. 

Four hundred adults presenting with acute watery diarrhea were entered into a randomized, placebo controlled, double blind clinical trial of berberine, tetracycline, and tetracycline + berberine to study the antisecretory and vibriostatic effects of the alkaloid. Of 18S patients with cholera, those given tetracycline or tetracycline + berberine had considerably reduced volume and frequency of diarrheal stools, duration of diarrhea, and volumes of required intravenous and oral rehydration fluid. Berberine did not produce an antisecretory effect, but analysis by factorial design equations showed a reduction in diarrheal stools by one liter and a reduction in cyclic AMP concentrations in stools by 77% in the groups given berberine. Many fewer patients given tetracycline or tetracycline + berberine excreted vibrios in their stools after 24 hours in comparison with those given berberine alone. Neither tetracycline nor berberine had any benefit over placebo in 215 patients with noncholera diarrhea [219]. 

---