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Intestinal Gas Retention in Patients with Idiopathic Slow-Transit Constipation

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Abstract

Patients with slow-transit constipation (STC) have delayed colonic transit for solid und liquid bowel contents but intestinal gas handling has not been studied so far. Different nutrients influence motor and sensory gut function. We hypothesized that, in patients with STC, alteration of regulatory mechanisms may result in impaired intestinal gas dynamics. On 3 separate days, validated gas challenge was performed in 10 STC patients and 10 volunteers during duodenal saline, lipids, or intravenous glucose. During saline only 60% ± 8% of gas was cleared by STC patients after 60-min gas infusion, vs. 91% ± 2% by controls (P < 0.001). Acute hyperglycemia or lipids did not change intestinal gas dynamics in these patients (saline infusion), but compared to healthy subjects, significant intestinal gas retention occurred. In STC, disturbances of intestinal gas dynamics include basal intestinal gas retention, and this is virtually not affected by acute hyperglycemia or duodenal lipids.

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Acknowledgments

This work received grant support from the Research Fund of the Mannheim Faculty of Clinical Medicine (No. 098200/99-245), University of Heidelberg, and the Else-Kroener Fresenius Foundation (No. P51/05//A65/05//F01), Bad Homburg v.d.H., Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine II (Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases), University Hospital of Heidelberg at Mannheim, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, D-68167, Mannheim, Germany

    Ana Cristina Hernando-Harder, Andreas Franke, Heinz-Juergen Krammer, Manfred Vincenz Singer & Hermann Harder

  2. Department of Anatomy, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Thilo Wedel & Martina Böttner

Authors
  1. Ana Cristina Hernando-Harder
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  2. Andreas Franke
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  3. Thilo Wedel
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  4. Martina Böttner
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  5. Heinz-Juergen Krammer
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  6. Manfred Vincenz Singer
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  7. Hermann Harder
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Correspondence to Hermann Harder.

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Hernando-Harder, A.C., Franke, A., Wedel, T. et al. Intestinal Gas Retention in Patients with Idiopathic Slow-Transit Constipation. Dig Dis Sci 52, 2667–2675 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-006-9671-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-006-9671-6

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