Gender differences in gut transit shown with a newly developed radiological procedure

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Physiology

Background:

• Accurate gastrointestinal (GI) transit measurements are crucial for diagnosing GI disorders.
• An ideal transit test should be non-invasive, accessible, reproducible, and cost-effective.
• This study aimed to develop a single-visit procedure for simultaneous GI transit assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel, comprehensive bowel transit test.
• To investigate the influence of gender, BMI, age, menopause, and smoking on GI transit times in healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-three healthy subjects (43 women) participated.
• Colonic transit was assessed using radiopaque rings over 7 days.
• Gastric emptying and small-bowel transit were measured using radiopaque markers after a test meal, monitored via fluoroscopy.

Main Results:

• Women exhibited significantly slower gastric emptying, small-bowel transit, and colonic transit compared to men.
• Specifically, women's gastric emptying was 2.9h vs. 2.4h (P=0.005), small-bowel transit was 4.4h vs. 3.2h (P=0.001), and colonic transit was 1.5 days vs. 1.3 days (P=0.002).
• Overweight and postmenopausal women showed faster small-bowel transit than lean and premenopausal women, respectively.

Conclusions:

• The developed procedure is a practical, single-visit test meeting criteria for an ideal bowel transit assessment.
• Significant sex-based differences in GI transit times were confirmed, with women experiencing slower transit overall.
• Further research may explore the clinical implications of these transit time variations.