Methane-hydrogen Breath Test To Investigate The Effects Of Probiotics On Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis And Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

Objective:To detect the concentration of methane and hydrogen in exhaled breath of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and further assess the incidence of intestinal bacterial overgrowth in RA patients and evaluate the effects of probiotics for these patients.Methods:1.From October 2018 to January 2019,a total of 112 patients with RA treated in the rheumatology department of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University were studied.All patients were received hydrogen and methane breath test(HMBT)to evaluate the status of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth(SIBO).Patients with SIBO-positive were given probiotics for 3 consecutive weeks.2.After 3 weeks probiotic treatment,these participants were received HMBT again.If their SIBO were still positive,they were suggested to treated with probiotic for 4 weeks for further HMBT evaluation.3.Statistical description of the rate of negative SIBO before and after treatment with probiotics for all patients.4.Compare the concentrations of methane and hydrogen in exhaled gas at various time points before and after 3 weeks of treatment in group A;compare the concentrations of methane and hydrogen in exhaled gas at various time points before,3 weeks,and 7 weeks of treatment in group B.Results:1.Before treatment,there were 85 SIBO positive patients out of 112 RA patients,the SIBO positive rate was 75.89%.2.After 3 weeks of probiotic treatment,the number of patients in group A decreased from 85 before treatment to 72,and 13 patients turned negative,with a negative rate of 15.29%.After 4 weeks of continuous treatment,the patients in group B decreased from 28 patients before treatment to in 25 cases,3 cases were negative,and the negative rate was 10.71%.3.After 3 weeks of probiotic treatment,the concentration of methane in the exhaled gas of patients in group A at 30 minutes was higher than that before treatment(P <0.05);However,there was no significant difference in the concentration of the exhaled gas at other time points before and after treatment(P> 0.05).4.After the probiotic treatment was continued for 4 weeks in group B,there was no significant difference in the concentrations of methane and hydrogen in exhaled gas before treatment,after 3 weeks of treatment,and after 7 weeks of treatment(P> 0.05).Conclusion:1.The high SIBO positive rate in RA patients was detected by methane hydrogen breath test,suggesting that RA patients may be prone to SIBO combination.2.The methane hydrogen breath test found that oral probiotics can help to improve the overgrown flora in the small intestine and reduce the positive rate of RA patients with SIBO.