Abstract
Breath methane was studied in 394 subjects. Among 152 controls, 50.0% produced methane-42.1% of males and 57.9% of females. One hundred sixteen patients with gastrointestinal diseases were studied. Among 32 with Crohn's disease, only 2 (6.1%) produced methane, as well as 16 of 51 ulcerative colitis patients (31.4%) and 11 of 32 patients with the irritable bowel syndrome (34.4%). Breath methane is thus unusual in Crohn's disease. After bowel cleansing for colonoscopy or surgery, 15 of 18 methane producers became nonproducers, whereas after antibiotic treatment, 24 of 30 producers sustained their methane-producing status. After gentamycin and cephazolin therapy, methane production was abolished in three of eight patients. Slight spontaneous variations in methane production were also noticed with two of 23 control subjects, becoming nonproducers on restudy after 10–25 months. Thus gastrointestinal diseases, bowel cleansing and, to a much lesser degree, antibiotic therapy, affect methane production.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Haines A, Metz G, Dilawari J, Blendis LM, Wiggins H: Breath methane in patients with cancer of the large bowel. Lancet 2:481–483, 1977
Pitt P, De Bruijn KM, Beeching MF, Goldberg E, Blendis LM: Studies on breath methane: The effect of ethnic origin and lactulose. Gut 21:951–954, 1980
Bjorneklett A, Jenssen E: Relationship between hydrogen and methane production in man. Scand J Gastroenterol 17:985–992, 1982
McKay LF, Eastwood MA, Brydon WG: Methane excretion in man—a study of breath, flatus and faeces. Gut 26:69–74, 1985
Bond JH, Engel RR, Levitt MD: Factors influencing pulmonary methane excretion in man. J Exp Med 133:572–588, 1971
Peled Y, Gilat T, Liberman E, Bujanover Y: The development of methane production in childhood and adolescence. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 4:575–579, 1985
McKay LF, Brydon WG, Eastwood MA, Smith JH. The influence of pentose on breathmethane. Am J Clin Nutr 34:2728–2733, 1981
Zucatto E, Andreoletti M, Bozzani A, Marcucci F, Valio P, Biachi P, Mussini E: Respiratory excretion of hydrogen and methane in Italian subjects after ingestion of lactose and milk. Eur J Clin Invest 13:261–266, 1983
Pique JM, Pallares M, Cuso E, Vilar Bonet J, Gassull MA: Methane production and colon cancer. Gastroenterology 87:601–605, 1984
Karlin DA, Jones RD, Stroehlein JR, Mastromarino AJ, Potter GD: Breath methane excretion in patients with unresected colorectal cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 69:573–576, 1982
McKay LF, Brydon WG, Eastwood MA, Housley E: The influence of peripheral vascular disease on methanogenesis in man. Atherosclerosis 47:77–84, 1983
Bujanover Y, Peled Y, Blau H, Katznelson D, Gilat T: Methane production in patients with cystic fibrosis (in press)
Gilat T, BenHur H, Gelman-Malachi E, Terdiman R, Peled Y: Alterations of the colonic flora and their effect on the hydrogen breath test. Gut 19:602–605, 1978
Bjorneklett A, Fausa O, Midtvedt T: Bacterial overgrowth in jejunal and ileal disease. Scand J Gastroenterol 18:289–298, 1983
Tadesse K, Smith D, Eastwood MA: Breath hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) excretion patterns in normal man and in clinical practice. Q J Exp Phys 65:85–97, 1980
Bjorneklett A, Midtvedt T: Influence of three antimicrobial agents-penicillin, metronidazole, and doxycyclin-on the intestinal microflora of healthy humans. Scand J Gastroenterol 16:473–480, 1984
Miller TL, Wolin MJ: Enumeration ofMechanobrevibacter smithiii in human feces. Arch Microbiol 131:14–18, 1982
Bond JH, Levitt MD: Factors affecting the concentrations of combustible gases in the colon during colonoscopy. Gastroenterology 68:1445–1448, 1973
Dipalma JA, Brady CE III, Stewart DL, Karlin DA, McKinney WK, Clement DJ, Coleman TW, Pierson WP: Comparison of colon cleansing methods in preparation for colonoscopy. Gastroenterology 86:856–860, 1984
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peled, Y., Weinberg, D., Hallak, A. et al. Factors affecting methane production in humans. Digest Dis Sci 32, 267–271 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01297052
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01297052