AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 259, Issue 4 676-G680, Copyright © 1990 by American Physiological Society
Effect of duodenal amino acid infusion on solid gastric emptying in pigs
B. R. Landers, P. G. Devitt and G. G. Jamieson
Department of Surgery, University of Adelaide, South Australia.
The emptying of a 400-g test meal of cubed liver was studied in eight pigs
equipped with duodenal cannulas. Gastric effluent was diverted to measure
both the rate of emptying and the distribution of particle sizes. The
effect of emptying and particle size of infusing normal saline or an
isosmolar amino acid solution into the small bowel was studied. Normal
saline infusion did not alter the proportion of particles emptied, which
were less than 1 mm in diameter. Infusion of the amino acid solution at the
same rate significantly decreased the mass of liver emptied from 69.9 to
38.4 g compared with normal saline, and the percentage of particles less
than 1 mm in diameter in the gastric effluent increased from 66 to 82%. We
conclude that the amino acid solution produced both a reduction in the rate
of gastric emptying and an increase in the proportion of small particles in
the gastric effluent. We postulate that this may have been due to changes
in gastric motility, together with alterations in gastric secretion and
digestion, produced by the infusion of the amino acid solution into the
small bowel.
