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IBS, IBD diagnosed by fecal gas analysis
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A prototype point-of-care platform technology based on fecal gas analysis was effective for positively diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome and active inflammatory bowel disease in a recent study.
“The introduction of fecal calprotectin has helped to ‘rule out’ disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, but still treats irritable bowel syndrome as a diagnosis of exclusion,” Chris Probert, MD, of the University of Liverpool, and colleagues wrote. “The data we have presented is the best method to date for making a positive diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome based on an investigation.”
Chris Probert
The investigators developed a gas chromatography column paired with a metal oxide gas sensor called the OdoReader, which separates volatile compounds from fecal gas, and a computer algorithm, which detects resistance patterns linked to specific conditions and creates classification models. Using this platform, they analyzed 152 fecal samples collected from patients with IBS, active and inactive IBD, and healthy controls between October 2010 and October 2011.
Using several validation schemes, the researchers demonstrated the platform could classify samples with 75% to 100% accuracy. The accuracies of classifying active Crohn’s disease vs. IBS (87%) and IBS vs. healthy controls (78%) were especially important, they wrote.
“If confirmed, these findings could mean that irritable bowel syndrome can be diagnosed positively and offers the potential to develop new tools to diagnose and assess inflammatory bowel disease and distinguish ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease,” they concluded. – by Adam Leitenberger
Disclosures: Probert and others report they are the inventors of the intellectual property related to applications of the gas chromatography sensor and related to the pipeline used for data analysis, which are owned by their employers.
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