A pattern of breath hydrogen excretion suggesting small bowel bacterial overgrowth in Burmese village children.
Breath hydrogen tests (BHTs) were performed on 340 Burmese village children aged 1-59 months. Normalization (correction of breath H2 values to a constant mean O2 level) eliminated the variations in H2 levels due to sleep, storage temperature, or duration of storage. After a 10 g lactulose test meal, 145 (42.6%) children produced less than 10 ppm H2 above basal values (non-H2 producers). Of 195 H2 producers, a pattern of breath hydrogen excretion suggesting small bowel bacterial overgrowth (SBBO)--recognized as a transient peak at the 20, 40, or 60 min breath samples following the lactulose test meal and distinguishable from the later colonic peak--was observed in 53 (27.2%), being significantly more frequent in male children, and exhibiting an age-prevalence pattern similar to that of acute childhood diarrhea in these villages. Diarrhea did not alter the state of H2 production (non-H2 producers remain non-H2 producers, and H2 producers remain H2 producers) although the magnitude of peak breath H2 changed.
Pereira
S P
SP
Gastrointestinal Unit, School of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Khin-Maung-U
Bolin
T D
TD
Duncombe
V M
VM
Nyunt-Nyunt-Wai
Myo-Khin
Linklater
J M
JM
D001944:Breath Tests; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D007223:Infant; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000382:microbiology*; D007792:Lactulose; D008297:Male; D002052:Myanmar; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology
D007792:Lactulose; D006859:Hydrogen