title: Reproducibility of two ¹³CO₂ breath tests dedicated to assess pancreatic exocrine function.
abstract: The aim of this study was to check on the reproducibility of two breath tests intended to test the pancreatic exocrine function accomplished with (13)C-mixed triglyceride ((13)C-MTG) or cornflakes naturally enriched in (13)C ((13)C-CF). The (13)CO₂ content within breath samples was determined with isotope-selective non-dispersive infrared spectrometry. A 72-h monitoring performed in healthy subjects revealed that a statistically significant rise in breath (13)CO₂ occurs between the 1st and the 9th hour and between the 1st and the 24th hour after intake of a test meal containing 300 mg (13)C-MTG (n=10) or 100 g (13)C-CF (n=12), respectively. In another two groups of 12 healthy volunteers each, short-term reproducibility of the two tests was assessed with paired examinations taken at a median interval of two days, whereas paired examinations separated by a median of 20 days served for the medium-term reproducibility assessment. In the case of either test, the medium-term reproducibility was not any worse than the short-term one. The reproducibility of the (13)C-CF breath test tended to be slightly worse than that of the (13)C-MTG breath test: a least detectable difference in 6-h cumulative (13)C breath excretion (which is expressed as the percentage of the administered dose of the substrate) amounted to 2.7 and 4.4 % (short-term reproducibility) and to 3.5 and 4.4 % (medium-term reproducibility) in the case of the (13)C-MTG breath test and the (13)C-CF breath test, respectively. It is concluded that both tests offer a satisfactory reproducibility for use within a clinical setting. In case the lipolytic and the amylolytic activity would be required to be examined in the same patient, the (13)C-CF breath test can be executed on the next day following the (13)C-MTG breath test, whereas reciprocally, a 1-day break is recommended before accomplishment of a (13)C-MTG breath test following a (13)C-CF breath test.
authors: Department of Basic Biomedical Science, School of Pharmacy, Medical University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland.
authors: Krzysztof
authors: K
authors: Jonderko
authors: Magdalena
authors: M
authors: Kamińska
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Kasicka-Jonderko
authors: Małgorzata
authors: M
authors: Bożek
authors: Magdalena
authors: M
authors: Radosz
authors: Karolina
authors: K
authors: Szostak
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Błońska-Fajfrowska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000681:Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008049:Lipase / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D046790:Pancreas, Exocrine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D014280:Triglycerides; C058871:1,3-distearyl-2-octanoylglycerol; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008049:Lipase; D000681:Amylases