Establislument of the finger - print of the short chain fatty acid in human fecal samples based on gas chromatography in functional constipation in childhood

Objective To investigate the formation and proportion of the short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in normal and functional constipation (FC) children.Methods Fifty children were divided into control group (15) and FC group (35).SCFA were extracted from children's stool, and quantitatively analyzed by gas chromatography (GC).Results Of control group, SCFA of stool was 51.89±17.62 (mg/g);among the SCFA, acetic acid was the richest, butyric acid was the second richest, followed by propanoic acid third, isobutyric acid fourth, and isopentoic acid the last.Compared with the SCFA of control group, the stool SCFA in FC group significantly decreased; among the SCFA, isobutyric acid was the richest, isopentoic acid second, and then came propanoic acid, acetic acid, and butyric acid.The content of acetic acid, butyric acid and propanoic acid decreased, while the isobutyric acid and isopentoic acid increased in FC group.The concentration of SCFA in FC group was 87.29±33.42 mg/L, which was significantly higher than 17.36±8.12 mg/L of the control group (P<0.01).Conclusions The stool SCFA increases and disproportions in FC patients, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of FC in children. Key words: Constipation; Fatty acids,short-chain;  Chromatography,gas