age 53.6 y, 24 women: 17 men): because of the similarity of their diet and lifestyle to that of patients, partners were recruited where possible as an attempt to reduce bias resulting from such factors. The patients who agreed to participate in the study gave verbal consent to the physician during the clinic appointment as stipulated in the participant information sheet and the ethics approval, as granted by the Wiltshire Research and Ethics Committee (NRES 06/Q2008/6). All patients were on an ad lib diet before sample collection in order to maximise recruitment and to give data. ‘real-world’ 2.2 Sample processing – All the samples were analysed by the gas chromatography-sensor system in 2012, the device not being available prior to 2012. Faecal samples were processed following the method proposed by Ahmed et al 201323. In summary, 1gm aliquots of faecal samples were stored in 18 ml glass headspace vials (Supelco, Sigma Aldrich) within 6h of sample production and frozen at −20°C. In 2012, samples were processed by the system. Previous studies showed no loss of volatile chemicals from faecal samples stored at Each frozen sample was heated for 10 min at 50°C. After this, 2 cm3 of its headspace were collected and injected into −20°C23. the GC column of the gas chromatography-sensor system15. Detailed descriptions of the hardware and software18 are reported elsewhere. In summary, the gas chromatography-sensor system is composed of a gas chromatography column coupled to a metal oxide gas sensor. The sensor is controlled via an electronic circuit monitored by computer software, which records the electrical
age 53.6 y, 24 women: 17 men): because of the similarity of their diet and lifestyle to that of patients, partners were recruited where possible as an attempt to reduce bias resulting from such factors. The patients who agreed to participate in the study gave verbal consent to the physician during the clinic appointment as stipulated in the participant information sheet and the ethics approval, as granted by the Wiltshire Research and Ethics Committee (NRES 06/Q2008/6). All patients were on an ad lib diet before sample collection in order to maximise recruitment and to give ‘real-world’ data. 2.2 – Sample processing All the samples were analysed by the gas chromatography-sensor system in 2012, the device not being available prior to 2012. Faecal samples were processed following the method proposed by Ahmed et al 201323. In summary, 1gm aliquots of faecal samples were stored in 18 ml glass headspace vials (Supelco, Sigma Aldrich) within 6h of sample production and frozen at −20°C. In 2012, samples were processed by the system. Previous studies showed no loss of volatile chemicals from faecal samples stored at −20°C23. Each frozen sample was heated for 10 min at 50°C. After this, 2 cm3 of its headspace were collected and injected into the GC column of the gas chromatography-sensor system15. Detailed descriptions of the hardware and software18 are reported elsewhere. In summary, the gas chromatography-sensor system is composed of a gas chromatography column coupled to a metal oxide gas sensor. The sensor is controlled via an electronic circuit monitored by computer software, which records the electrical
AggioEtAl_R4.docx