Studies of intestinal fermentation in ulcerative colitis.

Evidence of impaired function of the small bowel has been reported in ulcerative colitis (Salem and Truelove, 1965). A preliminary report of metabolic studies in three patients (Frazer, Hood, Montgomery, Davies, Schneider, Carter, and Goodhart, 1966) showed that severe ulcerative colitis might be accompanied not only by steatorrhoea but by increased bowel excretion of lactic acid and volatile fatty acids. We report here further studies on these fermentation products in colitis, and their relation to abnormalities of small bowel function and the effects of alterations in the dietary intake of carbohydrate.