Fisiología y fisiopatología de la distensión abdominal: Gas intestinal

Abstract

The works of this thesis are focused on the study of the physiology of intestinal gas._x000D_ In our first experiment, we determine the volume of intestinal gas produced after a flatulogenic test meal, with and without wash-out._x000D_ Observed a great difference between the volume of intestinal gas evacuated with and without wash-out, only a quarter of the total volume produced were evacuated. Our data indicate that intestinal gas homeostasis is a highly dynamic process. A large proportion of the gas produced by bacterial fermentation of meal residues appears to be rapidly absorbed into the blood and/or metabolized by gas-consuming microorganisms, and only a relatively modest proportion eliminated per anus._x000D_ Following the line, in the second experiment the intestinal gas production was measured after 1 day low-flatulogenic diet and fast or test meal; or 1 day high-flatulogenic diet and fast or test meal._x000D_ We observed an increase in the volume of intestinal gas produced in the experiments with high preload respect to a low preload both in fasting, showing that preexisting residues on colon exert effect in the production of intestinal gas._x000D_ After a test meal in both preload demonstrate a great increase in gas production, what is expected, but the gas production rate after the test meal with the high-flatulogenic preload was not higher than with the low-flatulogenic preload, suggesting that gas production may be a saturable process._x000D_ Show, that the metabolic activity of intestinal microbiota markedly increases during the first few hours after ingestion of non-absorbable, fermentable substrates, but this activity still persists hours later, albeit at a lower level than in the early phase, and demonstrates summation effects of fermentable foodstuffs on gas production._x000D_ A substantial proportion of subjects with functional gut disorders, or even in the general population, complain of symptoms that are commonly attributed to gas, like distension and bloating. This new knowledge should contribute to elucidating the dynamic complex of the intestinal gas in relationship with these symptoms, take into consideration different factors that may influence gas homeostasis and tolerance, such as intestinal motility, transit, sensitivity,and microbiota activity.

Date of Award	25 Nov 2015
Original language	Spanish
Supervisor	Jaume Vilaseca Momplet (Director) & Fernando Azpiroz Vidaur (Director)