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. 2004 Jan;53(1):58-61.
doi: 10.1136/gut.53.1.58.

A novel method for rapidly diagnosing the causes of diarrhoea

C S J Probert  1 , P R H Jones, N M Ratcliffe
Affiliations

A novel method for rapidly diagnosing the causes of diarrhoea

C S J Probert et al. Gut. 2004 Jan.

Abstract

Background: The microbiological diagnosis of infectious diarrhoea may take several days using conventional techniques. In order to determine whether flatus can be used to make a rapid diagnosis, the volatile organic compounds associated with diarrhoea were analysed.

Methods: Stool samples were collected from 35 patients with infectious diarrhoea and from six healthy controls. Gaseous compounds were extracted from a headspace using solid phase microextraction and analysed using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy.

Results: Characteristic patterns of volatile gases were found for the main causes of infectious diarrhoea in hospitals. Furan species without indoles indicated Clostridium difficile, ethyl dodecanoate indicated rotavirus, ammonia without ethyl dodecanoate suggested other enteric viruses, and the absence of hydrocarbons and terpenes indicated Campylobacter infection.

Conclusion: These results could be the basis of rapid near patient diagnosis of infectious diarrhoea.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Typical example of a gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GCMS) chromatogram in a normal subject. (B) Typical example of a GCMS chromatogram in a patient with Clostridium difficile.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Metabolic profile of volatile classes from stool samples of normal subjects and from patients with infectious diarrhoeas (typically an average of six samples for each sample type).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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