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DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/10/1/016003
OpenAccess: Closed
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Stable isotope and high precision concentration measurements confirm that all humans produce and exhale methane

Frank Keppler,Amanda Schiller,Robert Ehehalt,Markus Greule,Jan Hartmann,Daniela Polag

Methane
Methanogenesis
Stable isotope ratio
2016
Mammalian formation of methane (methanogenesis) is widely considered to occur exclusively by anaerobic microbial activity in the gastrointestinal tract. Approximately one third of humans, depending on colonization of the gut by methanogenic archaea, are considered methane producers based on the classification terminology of high and low emitters. In this study laser absorption spectroscopy was used to precisely measure concentrations and stable carbon isotope signatures of exhaled methane in breath samples from 112 volunteers with an age range from 1 to 80 years. Here we provide analytical evidence that volunteers exhaled methane levels were significantly above background (inhaled) air. Furthermore, stable carbon isotope values of the exhaled methane unambiguously confirmed that this gas was produced by all of the human subjects studied. Based on the emission and stable carbon isotope patterns of various age groups we hypothesize that next to microbial sources in the gastrointestinal tracts there might be other, as yet unidentified, processes involved in methane formation supporting the idea that humans might also produce methane endogenously in cells. Finally we suggest that stable isotope measurements of volatile organic compounds such as methane might become a useful tool in future medical research diagnostic programs.
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    Stable isotope and high precision concentration measurements confirm that all humans produce and exhale methane” is a paper by Frank Keppler Amanda Schiller Robert Ehehalt Markus Greule Jan Hartmann Daniela Polag published in 2016. It has an Open Access status of “closed”. You can read and download a PDF Full Text of this paper here.