Malnutrition significantly prolongs the delay in gastric emptying in rats

doi:10.1016/S0271-5317(05)80563-9

Nutrition Research

Volume 13, Issue 6, June 1993, Pages 715-722

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5317(05)80563-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

Metabolic effects of chronic starvation and malnutrition have been well characterized. Studies on the effects of malnutrition on the gastric emptying process are, however, sparse. To investigate the effect of malnutrition on gastric emptying, young, growing rats were subjected to a 65% energy restriction (fed 35% of ad libitum energy intake) for 4 weeks and their growth rate and gastric emptying time were compared with those of well nourished rats. Gastric emptying was denoted by the half-maximal emptying time (T_1/2) of either water or a 3 Kcal meal; water or meal was mixed with Tc99m-Sn-DTPA to determine T_1/2 by gastric scintigraphy method in conscious rats. Malnourished rats exhibited a depressed growth rate (0.6±0.1 g/day) when compared with that of free-feeding rats (4.0±0.3 g/day). The T_1/2 values for either water or 3 Kcal meal were significantly higher in malnourished rats when compared with those obtained with normal rats. This suggests that malnutrition significantly prolongs gastric emptying. The gastric emptying profile in rats switched from energy restriction to free-feeding regimen was similar to that of normal rats. This further emphasizes the role of nutrition in the regulation of gastric emptying.

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Cited by (5)

Energy restriction and chronic alcoholemia prolong the delay in gastric emptying in rats
1996, Nutrition Research
The possibility that chronic alcoholemia plays a role in the low energy intake by prolonging gastric emptying (GE) in alcoholic rats was investigated. A non-invasive Tc 99m-scintigraphy method was used to obtain half maximal ( $T 12$ ) GE times in conscious rats fed an alcohol or an isoenergetic control diet. One group of rats had free access to a liquid diet containing 36% of energy from alcohol for 4 weeks. The second and third groups were the isoenergetic and free-access controls respectively. The mean $T 12$ (min) in these groups were 59.9, 22.3 and 29.6 in the non-fasted, and 24.3, 23.0 and 6.8 in the overnight fasted state respectively. Alcoholic rats had a high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 33.4 m mole/L which dropped to 1 m mole/L in the fasted state. Alcoholic rats were switched to an isoenergetic diet with 26% of energy from alcohol and those in the second group were pair-fed a control diet for an additional 4 weeks. Rats fed the 26% alcohol diet ingested daily an amount of alcohol similar to that by rats fed the 36% alcohol diet but exhibited a very low BAC (5.0 m mole/L). They were not malnourished, unlike those fed the 36% alcohol diet. The mean $T 12$ in the 26% alcohol and isoenergetic control groups were 27.9 and 23.4 in the fed, and 7.5 and 6.3 in the fasted state respectively. These results show that rather than alcohol consumption per se, chronic alcoholemia and energy restriction prolong the delay in GE. They also show the reversible nature of the GE profile from abnormal delay to normal GE despite a continuous consumption of high amounts of alcohol sufficient to cause high BAC in rats receiving an increment in energy intake. Chronic alcoholemia has the potential to restrict energy intake by abnormally prolonging GE and therefore to induce malnutrition.
Induction of malnutrition in chronic alcoholism: Role of gastric emptying
1994, Medical Hypotheses
Epidemiological studies reveal that chronic alcoholics exhibiting liver disease are generally malnourished. Experimental studies unequivocally demonstrate that incidence of malnutrition cannot be avoided in animals fed liquid diets containing high concentrations of alcohol. Furthermore, ingestion of additional amounts of macronutrients by such chronically alcoholic animals prevents or regresses alcohol-induced adverse effects despite a continuous intake of high amounts of alcohol. It is thus apparent that high amounts of alcohol intake and malnutrition are necessary factors to produce adverse effects in chronic alcoholism. The mechanism by which malnutrition manifests in chronic alcoholism is, however, not clear. Recent studies have demonstrated, a) an inverse relationship between alcohol and non-alcohol energy intake and its impact on alcohol-induced effects in chronically alcoholic rats, b) a synergism between malnutrition and high doses of alcohol intake in the induction of alcoholemia, and c) that chronic alcoholemia significantly prolongs the delay in gastric emptying. Data obtained from these studies enable us to hypothesize that abnormal prolongation of gastric emptying in alcoholics with chronic alcoholemia may play a major role in the initiation of macronutrient deficiencies leading eventually to the induction of malnutrition.
Predominant role of GIP in the development of a metabolic syndrome-like phenotype in female wistar rats submitted to forced catch-up growth
2014, Endocrinology (United States)
Does the route of feeding modify gastric emptying in rats?
2000, Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Specific adaptation of gastric emptying to diets with differing protein content in the rat: Is endogenous cholecystokinin implicated?
1997, Gut

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Malnutrition significantly prolongs the delay in gastric emptying in rats

Abstract

Diarrhoea of famine and malnutrition: investigations using a rat model. 1. Jejunal hypersecretion induced by starvation

Gut

Scintigraphic evaluation of gastric emptying

Seminars Nucl. Med.

Physiology of gastric emptying and pathophysiology of gastroparesis

Gastroenerol. Clin. North America

Calories and gastric emptying: a regulatory capacity with implications for feeding

Am J Physiol.

A possible relation between the regulation of gastric emptying and food intake

Am J Physiol.

The control of gastric emptying

J Auton Nerv Syst.

The effect of meal energy content on gastric emptying

J Nucl Med

A comparison of cholecystokinin-induced changes in gastric emptying and feeding in rats

Am J Physiol

Action of the cholecystokinin antagonist L364,718 on gastric emptying in the rat

Am J Physiol

The physiology and pathophysiology of gastric emptying in humans

Gastroenterol

Determinants of gastric emptying in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

British J of Psych

Intragastric balloon reduces food intake and body weight in rats

Am J Physiol

Effects of Anesthesia on gastric emptying in rats

Gastroenterol

Cellular Mechanisms of Anesthesia

Ann NY Acad Sci

Definition of a gastric emptying abnormality in patients with anorexia nervosa

Dig Dis Sci

Alcoholic fatty liver: a nutritional problem of carbohydrate deprivation and concomitant ethanol ingestion

Nutr Res

Nutritional inadequacy of diets for young growing rats used in models of chronic alcohol ingestion

Biochem Arch