Abstract
The fermentation of undigested foods in the large bowel, by its resident bacteria, results in the production of several chemicals including volatile gases. Perturbance in gut bacteria is known to influence colonic and metabolic health, but to determine this requires prolonged culture (often unsuccessful) or expensive genomic sequencing. Clearly this is not practical for daily clinical practice. Previously, we have reported our insights into fermentonomics through the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in patients with gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, using the electronic nose. In this paper we report on the changes in the fermentone produced by patients undergoing complete versus partial bowel cleansing. Using urine samples, preliminary results from 23 individuals receiving bowel cleansing indicate the ability of the electronic nose to distinguish between the partial and complete procedures. Moreover in a subset of individuals, we have been able to track evolving bacterial recolonization over time using the e-nose and field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS). Such an approach has practical application in tracking bacterial dysbiosis following perturbation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 333-7 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of medical engineering & technology |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2012 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Bacteria/isolation & purification
- Carbon Dioxide/urine
- Electronic Nose
- Female
- Humans
- Hydrogen Sulfide/urine
- Intestine, Large/microbiology
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Nitric Oxide/urine
- Spectrum Analysis/methods
- Volatile Organic Compounds/urine
- Young Adult