Pentosuria

Pentosuria is a condition where the sugar xylitol, a pentose, presents in the urine in unusually high concentrations. It was characterized as an inborn error of carbohydrate metabolism in 1908. It is associated with a deficiency of L-xylulose reductase, necessary for xylitol metabolism. L-Xylulose is a reducing sugar, so it may give false diagnosis of diabetes, as it is found in high concentrations in urine. However, people with pentosuria do not have nonstandard metabolism of glucose, like diabetics. Patients of pentosuria have a low concentration of the sugar d-xyloketose. Using, Phenyl pentosazone crystals, phloroglucin reaction, and absorption spectrum, pentose can be traced back as the reducing substance in urine, with those that have pentosuria.