Submitted on December 30, 2004
Accepted on November 8, 2005
METHANE, A GAS PRODUCED BY ENTERIC BACTERIA, SLOWS INTESTINAL TRANSIT AND AUGMENTS SMALL INTESTINAL CONTRACTILE ACTIVITY
Mark Pimentel1*, Henry C. Lin2, Pedram Enayati1, Brian van den Burg1, Hyo-Rang Lee1, Jin H. Chen1, Sandy Park1, Yuthana Kong1, and Jeffrey Conklin1
1 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Burns and Allen Research Institute and UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
2 Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pimentelm{at}cshs.org.
The presence of methane on lactulose breath test among irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) subjects is highly associated with the constipation predominant form. Therefore we set out to determine whether methane gas can alter small intestinal motor function. In dogs, small intestinal fistulae were created to permit measurement of intestinal transit. Using a radiolabel, transit was evaluated during infusion of room air and subsequently methane. In this model, small intestinal infusion of methane produced a slowing of transit in all dogs by an average of 59%. In a second experiment, guinea pig ileum was pinned into an organ bath for the study of contractile activity in response to brush strokes applied to the mucosa. The force of contraction was measured both orad and aborad to the stimulus. The experiment was repeated while gassing the bath with methane. Contractile activity orad and aborad to the stimulus was significantly augmented by methane compared to room air (p<0.05). In the third experiment, humans with IBS having undergone a small bowel motility study were compared such that subjects producing methane on lactulose breath test were compared to those producing hydrogen. The motility index was significantly higher in methane producing IBS patients (1851±861) compared to hydrogen producers (1199±301) (p<0.05). Therefore, methane, a gaseous byproduct of intestinal bacteria, slows small intestinal transit and appears to do so by augmenting small bowel contractile activity.
