1. Validation of a Hand-Held Point-of-Care Device to Measure Breath Hydrogen and Its Utility in Detecting Response to Antibiotic Treatment.
- Author
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Barahona G, Mc Bride B, Moran Á, Harrison R, Villatoro L, Burns R, Konings B, Bulat R, McKnight M, Treisman G, and Pasricha PJ
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Female, Middle Aged, Adult, Aged, Blind Loop Syndrome diagnosis, Blind Loop Syndrome drug therapy, Point-of-Care Testing, Case-Control Studies, Breath Tests methods, Breath Tests instrumentation, Anti-Bacterial Agents therapeutic use, Anti-Bacterial Agents administration & dosage, Hydrogen analysis, Point-of-Care Systems
- Abstract
Background: Breath testing for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is typically performed using clinic-based equipment or single-use test kits., Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the utility of a portable, point-of-care breath analysis device (AIRE®, FoodMarble) in patients suspected to have SIBO. A technical assessment including a comparison to existing mail-in kits was first performed. Then, postprandial breath hydrogen levels of patients before and after antibiotic treatment were gathered and compared to levels seen in a healthy cohort., Methods: For the comparison, 50 patients suspected of having SIBO were provided with an AIRE device and performed concurrent LHBTs at-home with a mail-in breath test kit. For the postprandial analysis, twenty-four patients with chronic GI symptoms measured their postprandial hydrogen for 7 days prior to antibiotic treatment and for 7 days after treatment. 10 healthy controls also measured their postprandial hydrogen for 7 days., Results: Substantial agreement was demonstrated between AIRE and the mail-in kits for the performance of lactulose hydrogen breath tests (κ = 0.8). Prior to treatment, patients had significantly greater daily postprandial hydrogen than healthy controls (p < 0.001). The mean postprandial hydrogen of patients reduced significantly after treatment (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Measuring postprandial hydrogen shows potential as a means of differentiating patients with chronic GI symptoms from healthy controls and may be useful in monitoring patients before, during, and after treatment. Future studies could help determine if pre-treatment breath gas levels are predictive of response to antibiotic treatment., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: Áine Moran, Barry Mc Bride, and Ricky Harrison are employees of FoodMarble Digestive Health. Pankaj Jay Pasricha is a member of the clinical advisory board of FoodMarble Digestive Health and a paid consultant. The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)
- Published
- 2024
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