Skip to main content
Gut logoLink to Gut
. 1987 Jul;28(7):849–854. doi: 10.1136/gut.28.7.849

Adaptation of hydrogen analysis to measure stomach to caecum transit time in the rat.

N J Brown 1, R D Rumsey 1, N W Read 1
PMCID: PMC1433076  PMID: 3653753

Abstract

Excreted hydrogen analysis was used to measure stomach to caecum transit time of the head of a test meal in 120 rats fed by gavage. Results were compared with the distribution of a labelled test meal in the gastrointestinal tract of rats killed at different time intervals after gavage. Values for stomach to caecum transit were compatible with the distribution of labelled meals in 91% of animals, although in the remainder the hydrogen concentration had not risen even though food residues were in the caecum when the animals were killed. The technique gave reproducible results; the coefficients of variation for four studies carried out in each of six animals varied between 4 and 14%. A meal consisting of homogenised baked beans had a significantly shorter stomach to caecum transit time (88.1 +/- 4.5 min; mean +/- SE; n = 21; p less than 0.001) than an equivalent volume of Complan/lactulose (180.9 +/- 8.7 min; n = 13). This technique was used to investigate the effect of ileal infusion of a fat emulsion (20% Intralipid) via a chronically implanted intestinal cannula on the stomach to caecum transit time of a bean meal, in a series of paired studies carried out in six rats. Stomach to caecum transit time was significantly delayed during ileal infusion of 20% Intralipid compared with the control infusion of an isotonic saline solution (218.3 +/- 21 min v 106.7 +/- 33 min Intralipid v saline; n = 6; p less than 0.001).

Full text

PDF
849

Selected References

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

  1. Bond J. H., Jr, Levitt M. D., Prentiss R. Investigation of small bowel transit time in man utilizing pulmonary hydrogen (H2) measurements. J Lab Clin Med. 1975 Apr;85(4):546–555. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cann P. A., Read N. W., Cammack J., Childs H., Holden S., Kashman R., Longmore J., Nix S., Simms N., Swallow K. Psychological stress and the passage of a standard meal through the stomach and small intestine in man. Gut. 1983 Mar;24(3):236–240. doi: 10.1136/gut.24.3.236. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. HUNT J. N. Some properties of an alimentary osmoreceptor mechanism. J Physiol. 1956 May 28;132(2):267–288. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1956.sp005524. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Jian R., Pecking A., Najean Y., Bernier J. J. Etude de la progression d'un repas dans l'intestin grêle de l'homme par une méthode scintigraphique. Gastroenterol Clin Biol. 1979 Oct;3(10):755–762. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Mogard M. H., Nylander G., Flaten O., Hanssen L. E. Gastric emptying and intestinal transit of hyperosmolar solutions in relation to indomethacin and certain gut polypeptides in the rat. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1986 Apr;21(3):348–352. doi: 10.3109/00365528609003085. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Read N. W., Al Janabi M. N., Bates T. E., Barber D. C. Effect of gastrointestinal intubation on the passage of a solid meal through the stomach and small intestine in humans. Gastroenterology. 1983 Jun;84(6):1568–1572. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Read N. W., Al-Janabi M. N., Bates T. E., Holgate A. M., Cann P. A., Kinsman R. I., McFarlane A., Brown C. Interpretation of the breath hydrogen profile obtained after ingesting a solid meal containing unabsorbable carbohydrate. Gut. 1985 Aug;26(8):834–842. doi: 10.1136/gut.26.8.834. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Read N. W., Cammack J., Edwards C., Holgate A. M., Cann P. A., Brown C. Is the transit time of a meal through the small intestine related to the rate at which it leaves the stomach? Gut. 1982 Oct;23(10):824–828. doi: 10.1136/gut.23.10.824. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Read N. W., McFarlane A., Kinsman R. I., Bates T. E., Blackhall N. W., Farrar G. B., Hall J. C., Moss G., Morris A. P., O'Neill B. Effect of infusion of nutrient solutions into the ileum on gastrointestinal transit and plasma levels of neurotensin and enteroglucagon. Gastroenterology. 1984 Feb;86(2):274–280. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Read N. W., Miles C. A., Fisher D., Holgate A. M., Kime N. D., Mitchell M. A., Reeve A. M., Roche T. B., Walker M. Transit of a meal through the stomach, small intestine, and colon in normal subjects and its role in the pathogenesis of diarrhea. Gastroenterology. 1980 Dec;79(6):1276–1282. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stanghellini V., Malagelada J. R., Zinsmeister A. R., Go V. L., Kao P. C. Stress-induced gastroduodenal motor disturbances in humans: possible humoral mechanisms. Gastroenterology. 1983 Jul;85(1):83–91. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Gut are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES