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Cited by 45Gastrointestinal motility and disordersThyroid Disorders and TreatmentsDigestive system and related health

Orocaecal transit time in health and in thyroid disease

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Tobin, M V, Fisken, R A, Diggory, R T, Morris, A I, Gilmore, I T·1989·Gut
DOI 10.1136/gut.30.1.26PMC PMC1378225
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Abstract

Altered bowel habit commonly occurs in thyroid disease. We measured orocaecal transit in healthy volunteers and in hyperthyroid and hypothyroid patients before and after treatment, using the lactulose hydrogen breath test incorporating a standard liquid meal to obtain a more physiological assessment. Mean transit time in 12 control subjects was 85 (8) minutes (mean (SE)) (mean coefficient of variation between replicate studies, 8.6% (3%)). In eighteen hyperthyroid patients transit was more rapid at 49 (4) minutes (p less than 0.01). Ten hypothyroid patients had a transit time similar to controls at 91 (9) minutes. Transit time returned to normal in thyrotoxic patients after treatment but in eight hypothyroid patients retested, it remained unchanged. Our findings suggest that (a) the inclusion of a liquid meal provides a reproducible method of measuring orocaecal transit using the lactulose hydrogen breath test, (b) rapid small bowel transit in thyrotoxicosis may be one factor in the diarrhoea which is a feature of the disease and (c) if altered gut transit is the cause of sluggish bowel habit in hypothyroidism, delay in the colon, and not small bowel, is likely to be responsible.

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  • Hydrogen breath tests or small bowel barium studies reveal an enhanced mouth to cecum transit time which correlates negatively with T3 concentrations in the blood.

    “Hydrogen breath tests or small bowel barium studies reveal an enhanced mouth to cecum transit time which correlates negatively with T3 concentrations in the blood (Thomas et al., 1973; Tobin et al., 1989; Wegener et al., 1992; Daher et al., 2009).”

    From Thyroid disorders and gastrointestinal dysmotility: an old association (2024) · cites this paper as Tobin et al., 1989

    The Results report that hydrogen breath testing found shorter orocaecal transit times in hyperthyroid patients than in controls (49 versus 85 minutes). The paper also discusses barium studies reporting rapid transit, but our copy does not report a correlation between transit time and blood T3 concentrations. If “enhanced transit time” means a longer time rather than faster transit, it does not describe this paper’s finding. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 30

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Tobin, M. V., Fisken, R. A., Diggory, R. T., Morris, A. I., & Gilmore, I. T.
Affiliations
Royal Liverpool University Hospital (GB)
ORCID
Gilmore, I T
Venue
Gut
Publisher
BMJ
Published
1989-01
Volume
30
Issue
1
Pages
26-29
ISSN
  • 0017-5749 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-3288
DOI
10.1136/gut.30.1.26
PMC
PMC1378225
OpenAlex
W1978650371
Cited by
45
References
0
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
FWCI
2.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Gut (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Digestive system and related health
Keywords
thyroid dysfunction, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, lactulose breath test, altered bowel habits, diarrhea, small intestinal transit, colonic transit, liquid meal
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Cecum, Female, Gastrointestinal Transit, Humans, Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism, Male, Middle Aged

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