The Effect of Sex and Age on Small Intestinal Transit Times in Humans

This study utilizes a novel approach of small bowel video capsule endoscopy for investigating the influence of sex and age on small intestinal transit times (SITT) in humans. A total of 81 outpatients undergoing investigations with the small bowel video capsule endoscope (SB-VCE) and meeting inclusion criteria were included in this study. Following an overnight fast, patients swallowed the SB-VCE with a glass of water. SITT were calculated from the first duodenal image to the first cecal image. This study showed that the SB-VCE provides accurate and reliable measurements of SITT under real-life conditions. A large inter-individual variability in SITT was observed, with times ranging from 50 to 460 min. This variability can have implications on drug absorption and bioavailability. The median SITT were 219 min for females and 191 min for males. Although SITT were 28 min longer in females than males, this difference was not found to be statistically significant (p = 0.66). No correlation was found between age and SITT (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.19). Therefore, any drug bioavailability differences of modified release dosage preparations that are observed between adult patient groups of different age or sex are unlikely to be attributable to SITT.