GI Motility Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8730 Alden Drive, Thalians Building, 2nd Floor East, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Dig Dis Sci. 2011 Jun;56(6):1612-8. doi: 10.1007/s10620-011-1590-5. Epub 2011 Feb 1.
A growing body of literature suggests an association between methane and constipation. Studies also link degree of methane production to severity of constipation and have shown constipation is improved following antibiotics.
We aim to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the cumulative evidence regarding the association between methane and constipation.
A literature search was performed using MEDLINE and Embase to identify studies where the presence (or absence) of methane was assessed in constipated subjects. Search terms included "methane," "breath test," "constipation," "motility," "transit," "irritable bowel syndrome" and/or "IBS." Pooled odds ratios were generated using a random effects model. In a separate analysis, studies that measured intestinal transit in methane and non-methane subjects were systematically reviewed.
Nine studies met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Among these, 1,277 subjects were examined by breath testing (N = 319 methane producers and N = 958 methane non-producers). Pooling all studies, a significant association was found between methane on breath test and constipation (OR = 3.51, CI = 2.00-6.16). Among adults only, methane was significantly associated with constipation (OR = 3.47, CI = 1.84-6.54). Similar results were seen when only examining subjects with IBS (OR = 3.60, CI = 1.61-8.06). The systematic review identified eight additional papers which all demonstrated an association between methane and delayed transit.
We demonstrate that methane present on breath testing is significantly associated with constipation in both IBS and functional constipation. These results suggest there may be merit in using breath testing in constipation. Moreover, methane may be used to identify candidates for antibiotic treatment of constipation.
越来越多的文献表明甲烷与便秘之间存在关联。研究还表明甲烷产生的程度与便秘的严重程度相关，并表明抗生素治疗后便秘得到改善。
我们旨在进行系统回顾和荟萃分析，以检查关于甲烷与便秘之间关联的累积证据。
使用 MEDLINE 和 Embase 进行文献检索，以确定在便秘患者中评估甲烷存在（或不存在）的研究。搜索词包括“甲烷”、“呼吸测试”、“便秘”、“动力”、“转运”、“肠易激综合征”和/或“IBS”。使用随机效应模型生成汇总比值比。在另一个分析中，系统地审查了在甲烷和非甲烷受试者中测量肠道转运的研究。
有 9 项研究符合荟萃分析的纳入标准。其中，1277 名受试者接受了呼吸测试检查（N = 319 名甲烷产生者和 N = 958 名甲烷非产生者）。汇总所有研究，呼吸测试中的甲烷与便秘之间存在显著关联（OR = 3.51，CI = 2.00-6.16）。仅在成年人中，甲烷与便秘显著相关（OR = 3.47，CI = 1.84-6.54）。仅检查 IBS 患者时也观察到类似的结果（OR = 3.60，CI = 1.61-8.06）。系统评价确定了另外 8 篇论文，所有这些论文都表明甲烷与延迟转运之间存在关联。
我们证明呼吸测试中存在的甲烷与 IBS 和功能性便秘中的便秘显著相关。这些结果表明，呼吸测试在便秘中的应用可能具有一定价值。此外，甲烷可用于识别需要抗生素治疗便秘的候选者。
