Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of a rapid breath hydrogen analyzer for clinical studies of carbohydrate absorption

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Digestive Diseases and Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A second-generation gas chromatograph for the analysis of H2 in expired air has been developed. It incorporates a solid-state detector with high sensitivity for H2 and has a small, internal pump which supplies air as the carrier gas, thus eliminating the need for a large tank of compressed gas for the carrier. A reference gas of known H2 concentration is, of course, still required. The entire system weighs 6.0kg and is completely portable, requiring only 120 V electric current for use. The instrument has a mean intersample interval of less than 2 min, with H2 concentration registered on a digital display. The output has a track-hold feature which permits the output, in parts per million H2, to be retained by the meter so the reading can be verified. The chromatogram can also be recorded on a conventional analog strip-chart recorder. The sensitivity and precision are superior to those of a thermal conductivity H2 gas chromatograph. Moreover, the rapid response time encourages frequent calibration checks with the reference gas. This analyzer offers significant advantages over previous H2-measuring systems for breath-analysis tests used both for diagnostic clinical practice and for field studies of nutritional assessment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Levitt MD: Production and excretion of hydrogen in man. N Engl J Med 281:122, 1969

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Solomons NW: The H2 breath-test in gastrointestinal diagnosis. Comp Ther 7(7):1, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Torun B, Solomons NW, Vieteri FE: Lactose malabsorption and lactose intolerance: Implications for general milk consumption. Arch Latinoamer Nutr 29:445, 1979

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Newcomer AD, Thomas PJ, McGill DB, Hofmann AF: Lactose deficiency: Common genetic trait of the American Indian. Gastroenterology 72:234, 1977

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Newcomer AD, Gordon H, Thomas PJ, McGill DB: Family studies of lactase deficiency in the American Indian. Gastroenterology 73:985, 1977

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Newcomer AD, McGill DB, Thomas PJ, Hofmann AF: Tolerance to lactose among lactase-deficient American Indians. Gastroenterology 74:44, 1978

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ellestad-Sayed JJ, Levitt MD, Bond JH: Milk intolerance in Manitoba Indian school children. Am J Clin Nutr 33:2198, 1980

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Brown KH, Parry L, Khatun M, Ahmed MG: Lactose malabsorption in Bangladeshi village children: Relation with age, history of recent diarrhea, nutritional status and breast-feeding. Am J Clin Nutr 32:1962, 1979

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Solomons NW, Viteri FE, Hamilton LH: Application of a simple gas chromatographic technique for measuring breath hydrogen. J Lab Clin Med 90:856, 1977

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. MacLean WC Jr, Fink BB: Lactose malabsorption by premature infants: Magnitude and clinical significance. J Pediatr 97:383, 1980

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Christman NT, Hamilton LH: A new chromatographic instrument for measuring trace concentrations of breath-hydrogen. J Chromatogr 229:259–265, 1982

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hamilton LH: Basic principles of gas chromatography for the cardiopulmonary laboratory. CVP J 3:37, 1975

    Google Scholar 

  13. Tadesse K, Eastwood M: Breath-hydrogen test and smoking. Lancet 2:91, 1977

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Metz G, Gassull MA, Drasar BS, Jenkins DJA, Blendis LM: Breath-hydrogen test for small-intestinal bacterial colonisation. Lancet 1:668, 1976

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Rhodes JM, Middleton P, Jewell DP: The lactulose hydrogen breath test as a diagnostic test for small-bowel bacterial overgrowth. Scand J Gastroenterol 14:333, 1979

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Bond JH, Levitt MD: Investigation of small bowel transit time in man utilizing pulmonary hydrogen (H2) measurements. J Lab Clin Med 85:546, 1975

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Bond JH, Levitt MD: Use of breath hydrogen (H2) to quantitate small bowel transit time following partial gastrectomy. J Lab Clin Med 90:30, 1977

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Read NW, Miles CA, Fisher D, Holgate AM, Kime ND, Mitchell MA, Reeve AM, Roche RB, Walker M: Transit of a meal through the stomach, small intestine, and colon in normal subjects and its role in the pathogenesis of diarrhea. Gastroenterology 79:1276, 1980

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Solomons NW, Viteri FE, Rosenberg IH: Development of an interval sampling hydrogen (H2) breath test for carbohydrate malabsorption in children: evidence for a circadian pattern of breath H2 concentration. Pediatr Res 12:816, 1978

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Fernandes J, Vos CE, Douwes AC, Slotema E: Respiratory hydrogen excretion as a parameter for lactose malabsorption in children. Am J Clin Nutr 31:597, 1978

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Solomons NW, García-Ibañez R, Viteri FE: Hydrogen breath test of lactose absorption in adults: the application of physiological doses and cow's milk sources. Am J Clin Nutr 33:545, 1980

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Newcomer AD, Hodgson SF, McGill DB, Thomas PJ: Lactase deficiency: prevalence in osteoporosis. Ann Intern Med 89:218, 1978

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Niu HC, Schoeller DA, Klein PD: Improved gas chromatograph quantitation of breath hydrogen by normalization to respiratory carbon dioxide. J Lab Clin Med 94:755, 1979

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Human Nutrition and Biology, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), Carretera Roosevelt, Zona 11, P.O. Box 1188, Guatemala City, Guatemala

    Noel W. Solomons, Lyle H. Hamilton, N. T. Christman & Deborah Rothman

  2. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Noel W. Solomons, Lyle H. Hamilton, N. T. Christman & Deborah Rothman

  3. Research Service, Wood Veterans Administration Medical Center and the Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Noel W. Solomons, Lyle H. Hamilton, N. T. Christman & Deborah Rothman

  4. Laboratory of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

    Noel W. Solomons, Lyle H. Hamilton, N. T. Christman & Deborah Rothman

Authors
  1. Noel W. Solomons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lyle H. Hamilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. T. Christman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Deborah Rothman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

INCAP Publication No. I-1268

Dr. Solomons is a recipient of a Clinical Investigator Award (1 K08-AM-00715) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Solomons, N.W., Hamilton, L.H., Christman, N.T. et al. Evaluation of a rapid breath hydrogen analyzer for clinical studies of carbohydrate absorption. Digest Dis Sci 28, 397–404 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02430527

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02430527

Keywords

Search

Navigation