Gut transit study

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    THE EFFECT OF INTESTINAL TRANSIT ON THE ENTEROHEPATIC CIRCULATION OF BILE SALTS, FAECAL MICROBIOME AND PRODUCTION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

  • IRAS ID

    221556

  • Contact name

    Stephen Lewis

  • Contact email

    stephenlewis1@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 2 months, 8 days

  • Research summary

    The digestion of food by human body starts from oral cavity and continues until its excreted as faeces. There are different factors affecting this process. Important factors are movement through the GI Tract, breakdown of food material and absorption by body to produce energy. The unabsorbed waste material is then excreted by the body.

    Different enzymes are produced by human body which are responsible for digestion of food. One important chemical is bile which are produced and your gall bladder. It is mainly important in digestion of fatty foods but affects the movement of food material as well. There are numerous bacteria present in human GI tract especially in mouth and large bowel which also play an important role in process of digestion of food.

    Different conditions of health and disease can affect how food moves through the GI tract (known as intestinal transit). It also affects the activity of different digestive enzymes and chemicals in body. The bacterial population in the body is also affected by changes described above. The purpose of our study is to observe how these different processes especially the intestinal transit, bile salts and gut bacteria affect each other. This will help us to identify mechanisms responsible for different disorders of human gut like irritable bowel syndrome. Our study is part of an effort to identify new and future treatment of these conditions.

  • REC name

    North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    18/NW/0346

  • Date of REC Opinion

    21 May 2018

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion