NCT01963364

Pilot Study of the Effect of Fructans on Fermentation in the Colon & Transit

A Pilot Study Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure the Effect of Dietary Supplementation With Fructans on Whole Gut Transit Time, Colonic Gas Volume, and Volume Change in Response to a Fructan Challenge

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 16 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Nottingham · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Some carbohydrates (complex sugars) which are found in grains, fruit and vegetables, cannot be digested by humans. When eaten they pass through the small bowel to the large bowel, or colon. Some bacteria that live in the colon are able to digest these carbohydrates, and use them as an energy source. This releases energy that humans can absorb, and may have other effects on health as well. The process also releases gases such as hydrogen and methane into the colon, which will eventually be released as flatulence. There is some evidence in animals, and humans, that changing the carbohydrate content of the diet may increase the numbers of bacteria in the colon that can use this energy source. Recent work has looked at how changes in colon bacteria and carbohydrate in the diet affect transit, the speed at which food and stool moves through the stomach and bowels. This undergraduate project will use techniques in Magnetic Resonance Imaging developed in Nottingham to investigate how a prolonged change in dietary carbohydrate might affect speed of transit through the bowel and gas production in the colon, and whether there is any evidence of a change in the level of signalling chemicals that may affect bowel function.

Conditions

• Evidence of Adaptation to Dietary Exposure to Fructans

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Inulin challenge	On two study days one week apart, fasted participants will consume 500ml of water, flavoured with lime juice, containing 40g inulin.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	oligofructose supplement	Starting at the end of study day 1, consumption of 5 grams oligofructose coloured with carmine red food dye(\<5%), dissolved in a hot drink, twice daily for 6 1/2 days/ 13 doses. The 14th dose of the week is the inulin challenge consumed as part of study day 1.

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-10-01
• Primary completion: 2013-12-01
• Completion: 2013-12-01
• First posted: 2013-10-16
• Last updated: 2014-01-17

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United Kingdom