The continuous real-time 13C-octanoate breath test for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis using the BreathID system.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatic mitochondrial beta-oxidation is considered to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The aim of this study was to determine whether there were differences between patients with NASH and healthy controls in a breath test with 13C-octanoate, a medium-chain fatty acid.


METHODS
The subjects were 8 patients (5 men, 3 women, median age 46.5 years) with histologically proven NASH and 6 healthy controls (5 men, 1 women, and median age 27.8 years). The 13C breath test was performed for 4 hours using the BreathID system with a 100 mL of water containing 100 mg 13C-octanoate.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences between NASH patients and controls about all breath test parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
NASH-mediated changes in breath test parameters after ingestion of 13C-octanoate were not observed in our study. The present study findings suggest the possible preservation of 13C-octanoate metabolism (mitochondrial beta-oxidation) in patients with NASH.
Mawatari
Hironori
H
Gastroenterology Division, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
Inamori
Masahiko
M
Fujita
Koji
K
Yoneda
Masato
M
Iida
Hiroshi
H
Endo
Hiroki
H
Hosono
Kunihiro
K
Nozaki
Yuichi
Y
Yoneda
Kyoko
K
Akiyama
Tomoyuki
T
Takahashi
Hirokazu
H
Goto
Ayumu
A
Abe
Yasunobu
Y
Kirikoshi
Hiroyuki
H
Kobayashi
Noritoshi
N
Kubota
Kensuke
K
Saito
Satoru
S
Nakajima
Atsushi
A
D000328:Adult; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D002210:Caprylates / Q000378:metabolism*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D002210:Caprylates; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; C031492:octanoic acid