Skip to main content
PMC home page
Gut logoLink to Gut
. 1985 Jan;26(1):69–74. doi: 10.1136/gut.26.1.69

Methane excretion in man--a study of breath, flatus, and faeces.

L F McKay, M A Eastwood, W G Brydon
PMCID: PMC1432392  PMID: 3965369

Abstract

In this paper aspects of the variability of methane producing status have been examined, and a survey of breath methane excretion in various clinical and control populations is reported. Prevalences of methane excretion were 54% in healthy controls, 53% in non-gastrointestinal patients and 32% in gastrointestinal patients. Patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis had significantly lower prevalences of methane excretion (13%, 15%, and 11% respectively). Faecal constituents and in vitro incubation analysis were similar in breath methane excretors and non-excretors. Several patients did not excrete methane in the breath although methane was present in colonic gas. The results indicate that different gastrointestinal patient groups have different prevalences of breath methane excretion and that all healthy subjects may produce methane but only when the production reaches a threshold does it appear in the breath.

Full text

PDF
69

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bond J. H., Jr, Engel R. R., Levitt M. D. Factors influencing pulmonary methane excretion in man. An indirect method of studying the in situ metabolism of the methane-producing colonic bacteria. J Exp Med. 1971 Mar 1;133(3):572–588. doi: 10.1084/jem.133.3.572. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Calloway D. H., Murphy E. L. The use of expired air to measure intestinal gas formation. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1968 Feb 26;150(1):82–95. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1968.tb19034.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Calloway D. H. Respiratory hydrogen and methane as affected by consumption of gas-forming foods. Gastroenterology. 1966 Sep;51(3):383–389. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cummings J. H. Short chain fatty acids in the human colon. Gut. 1981 Sep;22(9):763–779. doi: 10.1136/gut.22.9.763. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Evrard E., Janssen G. Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of human fecal bile acids. J Lipid Res. 1968 Mar;9(2):226–236. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Haines A., Metz G., Dilawari J., Blendis L., Wiggins H. Breath-methane in patients with cancer of the large bowel. Lancet. 1977 Sep 3;2(8036):481–483. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)91605-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hinton J. M., Lennard-Jones J. E., Young A. C. A ne method for studying gut transit times using radioopaque markers. Gut. 1969 Oct;10(10):842–847. doi: 10.1136/gut.10.10.842. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Karlin D. A., Jones R. D., Stroehlein J. R., Mastromarino A. J., Potter G. D. Breath methane excretion in patients with unresected colorectal cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1982 Sep;69(3):573–576. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LEVEY S., BALCHUM O. J. STUDIES OF METABOLIC PRODUCTS IN EXPIRED AIR. I. METHANE. J Lab Clin Med. 1963 Aug;62:247–254. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Levitt M. D., Ingelfinger F. J. Hydrogen and methane production in man. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1968 Feb 26;150(1):75–81. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1968.tb19033.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mah R. A., Ward D. M., Baresi L., Glass T. L. Biogenesis of methane. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1977;31:309–341. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.31.100177.001521. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. McKay L. F., Brydon W. G., Eastwood M. A., Housley E. The influence of peripheral vascular disease on methanogenesis in man. Atherosclerosis. 1983 Apr;47(1):77–81. doi: 10.1016/0021-9150(83)90074-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. McKay L. F., Brydon W. G., Eastwood M. A., Smith J. H. The influence of pentose on breath methane. Am J Clin Nutr. 1981 Dec;34(12):2728–2733. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/34.12.2728. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. McKay L. F., Holbrook W. P., Eastwood M. A. Methane and hydrogen production by human intestinal anaerobic bacteria. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand B. 1982 Jun;90(3):257–260. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1982.tb00114.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Metz G., Gassull M. A., Leeds A. R., Blendis L. M., Jenkins D. J. A simple method of measuring breath hydrogen in carbohydrate malabsorption by end-expiratory sampling. Clin Sci Mol Med. 1976 Mar;50(3):237–240. doi: 10.1042/cs0500237. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nottingham P. M., Hungate R. E. Isolation of methanogenic bacteria from feces of man. J Bacteriol. 1968 Dec;96(6):2178–2179. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.6.2178-2179.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Perman J. A., Modler S. Glycoproteins as substrates for production of hydrogen and methane by colonic bacterial flora. Gastroenterology. 1982 Aug;83(2):388–393. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Pitt P., de Bruijn K. M., Beeching M. F., Goldberg E., Blendis L. M. Studies on breath methane: the effect of ethnic origins and lactulose. Gut. 1980 Nov;21(11):951–954. doi: 10.1136/gut.21.11.951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. SMITH P. H., HUNGATE R. E. Isolation and characterization of Methanobacterium ruminantium n. sp. J Bacteriol. 1958 Jun;75(6):713–718. doi: 10.1128/jb.75.6.713-718.1958. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Savage D. C. Factors involved in colonization of the gut epithelial surface. Am J Clin Nutr. 1978 Oct;31(10 Suppl):S131–S135. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/31.10.S131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Stadtman T. C. Methane fermentation. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1967;21:121–142. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.21.100167.001005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tadesse K., Eastwood M. Breath-hydrogen test and smoking. Lancet. 1977 Jul 9;2(8028):91–91. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)90098-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tadesse K., Smith D., Eastwod M. A. Breath hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) excretion patterns in normal man and in clinical practice. Q J Exp Physiol Cogn Med Sci. 1980 Apr;65(2):85–97. doi: 10.1113/expphysiol.1980.sp002502. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Gut are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES