Estimation of the Urinary Galactitol Level in Children by Capillary Gas Chromatography

A rapid and efficient capillary gas chromatography was utilized to measure urinary galactitol in 133 non-galactosemic children on a free diet. The children aged from 12 days to 14 years were divided by age into six groups. The urinary galactitol concentration was found to be the highest (64.04 mmol/mol creatinine) in the neonatal group and the lowest (7.12 mmol/mol creatinine) in the group over 2 years old. It is concluded that the urinary concentration of galactitol is strongly age-dependent.