Neuroendocrine tumors overexpressing the proglucagon- derived peptides have been associated with severe constipation. The relationship between two of the intestinal proglucagon-derived peptides, glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 and -2, and delayed gastrointestinal transit, was characterized in a patient with a neuroendocrine proglucagon-derived peptide tumor. A 60-yr-old female presented with intr...

BACKGROUND A sensation of abdominal swelling (bloating) and actual increase in girth (distension) are troublesome features of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is more common in patients with constipation, especially those with delayed transit. AIM To establish whether a fermented dairy product containing Bifidobacterium lactis DN-173 010 reduces distension in association with acceleratio...

Gastrointestinal motor abnormalities may account for dyspeptic symptoms of chronic uremia patients. However, the data on gastric emptying are conflicting in human studies. We, therefore, assessed gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit in a rat uremia model. Chronic uremia was induced by five-sixths nephrectomy in the rats. After 20-hour fasting, the rats were loaded with 70 glass beads a...

The gastrointestinal transit of pharmaceutical dosage forms has been measured in 201 studies in normal subjects using gamma scintigraphy. Solutions, small pellets, and single units (matrix tablets and osmotic pumps) were administered with different amounts of food in the stomach, ranging from fasted state to heavy breakfast. Gastric emptying was affected by the nature of the dosage form and the...

Mirtazapine is a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mirtazapine on gastrointestinal motility in dogs, including solid gastric emptying, antral and small intestinal contractions, and small intestinal and colonic transit. Six dogs were implanted with two cannulas located at the duodenum and the ascending colon; another s...

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) may play an important role in the gastrointestinal complications of cystic fibrosis (CF). This work explored two potential factors in development of SIBO in the CF (cftr(tm1UNC)) mouse: impaired Paneth cell innate defenses and altered gastrointestinal motility. Postnatal differentiation of Paneth cells was followed by Defcr, Lyzs, and Ang4 gene expre...

Gastrointestinal motility and transit time, measured by the hydrogen breath test, were simultaneously assessed in six healthy volunteers. Each subject underwent six studies on separate days. On each day motility was measured in the gastric antrum, duodenum, and proximal jejunum and 15 g of lactulose was given either by mouth during gastric phases I, II, III of the motor migrating complex or inf...

This study was performed to investigate the role of glutamate neurotransmitter system on gastrointestinal motility in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model of rats. The right middle cerebral artery was occluded by surgical operation, and intestinal transit and geometric center as a parameter of gastrointestinal motility and expression of c-Fos protein in the insular cortex and cingula...

n a series of elegant studies reported in this issue of ICellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Anitha et al report that a high-fat diet results in slowing of gastrointestinal transit (by geometric center of fluorescein isothiocyanate distribution after gavage), total gastrointestinal transit (by first arrival of a blue dye in stool), and distal colonic transit (by the time tak...

OBJECTIVE Patients with idiopathic slow-transit constipation comprise a small proportion of the total population complaining of constipation. The purpose of this review is to present an update of pathophysiology of this disorder and its application in clinical management. METHODS Medline was used to search English language articles published up to the end of September 2002 on the subject of s...