Goals: To measure bloating score, flatus passage, and hydrogen production after oral fructose in patients with history of fruit intolerance and compare these parameters with those in normal controls.
Background: Some patients complain of abdominal distention and excessive flatus after ingesting certain fruits such as mango, persimmon, and grapes but not after eating apricots and melon.
Study: We recorded breath hydrogen, flatus passage and bloating after 20 g fructose in 8 patients with history of fruit intolerance and 4 healthy controls. Breath hydrogen was measured every 15 minutes for 480 minutes using EC-60 gastrolyzer. Number of passage of flatus was recorded over 8 hours. Severity of abdominal distention on a scale of 1 to 10 was noted.
Results: The patients with fruit intolerance produced breath hydrogen 1745.2±7.8 parts per million, passed flatus 13.8±0.3 times, and had bloating score of 5.7±0.1. The healthy controls produced breath hydrogen 712.5±5.8 parts per million in 8 hours, passed flatus 7.2±0.5 time, and had bloating score of 2.7±0.2.
Conclusions: After 20 g fructose, patients with history of fruit intolerance produce more breath hydrogen, pass flatus more frequently, and have a higher bloating score compared with healthy controls.