Methane and human health. What you need to know.

Methane (CH4), an inherent product of fermentation, occurs naturally as part of a healthy gastrointestinal tract. However, recent studies show that high levels of methane are positively correlated with a higher body mass index. Obesity is a global epidemic with nearly 40% of all adults being overweight and 13% being obese. Likewise, a majority of people (65%) in the United States in a recent survey said they were actively trying to slim down.

Methane is also associated with constipated-related disease such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). IBS alone is said to affect approximately 1 in 10 people, and that number is on the rise. The mode of action connecting methane and constipation is poorly understood, however, it is known that antibiotic reduction of methanogens resulted in an increase in intestinal transit time. Antibiotic treatment is difficult, costly, and has many unfortunate side effects including an increase in diarrhea, antibiotic resistance, and yeast infections. The most elegant and effective solution to constipated related diseases, the pain of bloating, and aid in weight loss is a probiotic.

Our team aims to commercialize a new genus of probiotic, Pb 79-R4 (U.S. Patent Patenting Serial No. 15/234,560), that has a novel mode of action. Our laboratory studies have shown that our formulation results in a complete elimination of detectable methane in small and large intestinal simulations, thereby eliminating the gases that are positively correlated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), weight gain, gas pain, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Our probiotic was specifically designed to eliminate methane and methane producing microbes in the gastrointestinal tract as current probiotics in the market do not exhibit the mechanisms of Pb 79-R4, which eliminates the gases correlated with gut problems and would alleviate the associated symptoms more effectively than Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, the two leading genera of probiotics in the market. Our probiotic also produces a natural antibiotic that reduced intestinal pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter by 300 times. Lastly, this microbe produces nitric oxide, which was named “Molecule of the Year” for its ability to help control high blood pressure, aid in erectile dysfunction, and cancer prevention; therefore, this probiotic will act as an effective delivery mechanism for this crucial molecule.