Influence of a subsequent meal on the oro-cecal transit time of a solid test meal

Oro-cecal transit time (OCTT) is determined for clinical diagnostics of intestinal complaints and research purposes. Ingestion of a subsequent meal during the test period shortens the OCTT of a liquid test meal (glucose solution), as previously reported. This study was conducted to determine whether the same phenomenon occurs after ingestion of a solid test meal.

The OCTT of a pancake was measured with the lactose-[(13)C]-ureide breath test on two occasions in 28 volunteers. All the volunteers took the same subsequent meal once at 4 h and at 6 h after ingestion of the pancake.

In 16 of the 56 tests no increase in breath-(13)CO(2) was observed. No statistically significant difference was found between the OCTTs of the test meal after ingestion of the subsequent meal at 4 h or 6 h (367; 311-405 min and 290; 370-405 min, median quartiles, respectively) (P = 0.14, n = 18). Only a subgroup (n = 4) with a short OCTT in the test with the 4-h subsequent meal (278; 259-296 min) tended to have a longer OCTT in the test with the 6-h subsequent meal (390; 379-401 min; P = 0.059).

The effect of the ingestion of a subsequent meal on the transit time of a test meal is shown to be dependent on the physical form and/or caloric content of the test meal.