Resistance of postprandial gastric functions and autonomic balance to taste stimulation.

Exposure to unpleasant tastes leads to disturbances of interdigestive gastric myoelectrical activity (GMA) and may affect sympathetic/parasympathetic balance (SPB). We made a careful study to determine whether taste stimulation modulates the postprandial GMA, SPB, and gastric emptying (GE) of a solid meal. Eighteen healthy volunteers (9F/9M) entered the study.

Roux-en-Y duodenojejunostomy improves gastric emptying in experimental obstruction of the distal duodenum.

Introduction: We undertook a comparative survey of gastric emptying (GE) kinetics after two variants of bypass surgery for upper bowel obstruction.

Material & Methods: In 10 dogs with experimental upper bowel obstruction, five were randomized to obtain gastrojejunal anastomosis (GA), and the other five received Roux-en-Y duodenojejunal anastomosis (DA). Duplicate scintigraphic measurements of GE of a solid meal were accomplished in every animal before surgery and during the early (2-3 weeks), medium (3 months), and late (6 months) post-operative period.

Effects of taste stimulation on gastric myoelectrical activity and autonomic balance.

Background/aim: Sham feeding, reproducing the cephalic phase of digestion, and involving combined visual, olfactory, and taste stimulation affects gastrointestinal motility and secretory functions of the digestive system, as well as the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance (SPB). In this study, we aimed to check if taste stimulation with a single flavor affects the gastric myoelectrical activity (GMA) and/or SPB.

Materials And Methods: Eighteen healthy volunteers underwent, on four separate days, 30-min electrogastrographic and electrocardiographic recordings: basal, with stimulation - while keeping in the mouth an agar cube with taste-delivering substance, and postexposure.

Scrutiny of C-phenylalanine breath test reproducibility.

We evaluated the reproducibility of the C-phenylalanine breath test (C-PheBT). On three separate days, 21 healthy volunteers (11 F and 10 M) underwent C-PheBT with 100 mg l-[1-C]phenylalanine taken orally. Short-term reproducibility was evaluated with paired examinations taken 3 days apart; paired examinations separated by 23 days (median) served for the medium-term reproducibility assessment.

(13)CO2 breath tests in non-invasive hepatological diagnosis.

In liver diagnostics, a simple, non-invasive test with high sensitivity and specificity is permanently being sought in order to assess the degree of liver damage. In addition to liver biopsy, algorithms using blood parameters or elastometry are used in clinical practice. However, these methods do not provide information about the true liver reserve, so the liver breath test seem to be a promising diagnostic tool.

The effect of drugs and stimulants on gastric myoelectrical activity.

Electrogastrography (EGG) is a non-invasive diagnostic method useful for the registration and analysis of gastric myoelectrical activity. Abnormalities within an electrogastrogram were found to correlate with a number of disorders and symptoms, like functional dyspepsia, diabetic gastroparesis and terminal hepatic or renal failure. The EGG is also a valuable diagnostic method enabling the evaluation of the effect of drugs on gastric myoelectrical activity, which can be intentional, as in the case of prokinetics, or can have an adverse character.

Long-term inhibition of intestinal lipase by orlistat improves release of gut hormones increasing satiety in obese women.

Background: Reduced postprandial secretion of peptide YY (PYY), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), cholecystokinin, and increased hunger was reported after a single dose of orlistat, an inhibitor of intestinal lipase. As yet, the influence of long-term therapy with orlistat on PYYand GLP-1 release has not been studied. Our study was aimed at assessing the influence of 8-week therapy with orlistat as a component of a weight loss program on pre-prandial circulating PYY and GLP-1 levels.

Combined oral contraceptives affect liver mitochondrial activity.

Objectives: To examine liver mitochondrial function in women using combined oral contraceptives (COCs) containing ethinylestradiol.

Methods: A breath test after oral administration of 1 mg/kg (13)C-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid ((13)C-KICA) and 20 mg/kg L-leucine was performed twice: (i) in 15 women on day 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 of COC intake, and between day 1 and 5 of the withdrawal bleeding; and (ii) in 15 regularly menstruating females not taking hormonal contraceptives: during the luteal phase, between the 18th and the 22nd day of the cycle, and again between day 1 and 5 of the menstruation.

Results: In women on COCs the maximum (13)C elimination in breath air (Dmax) was higher (26.

Impact of combined oral contraceptives containing ethinylestradiol on the liver microsomal metabolism.

Objectives: To check whether currently used combined oral contraceptives (COCs) containing ethinylestradiol (EE) affect the liver microsomal metabolism.

Methods: (13)C-methacetin breath test ((13)C-MBT) - a sensitive non-invasive probe of cytochrome P-450 1A2 activity - was performed in 15 women on day 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 of intake of their COC (containing EE), and between day 1 and 5 during the withdrawal bleeding, as well as in nine women not using hormonal contraception during the luteal phase of their cycle (between the 17th and the 23rd day), and between day 1 and 5 during menstruation.

Results: The maximum breath (13)C elimination was significantly lower during the phase of intake of contraceptive pills than during withdrawal bleeding: 31.

Reproducibility of two ¹³CO₂ breath tests dedicated to assess pancreatic exocrine function.

The aim of this study was to check on the reproducibility of two breath tests intended to test the pancreatic exocrine function accomplished with (13)C-mixed triglyceride ((13)C-MTG) or cornflakes naturally enriched in (13)C ((13)C-CF). The (13)CO₂ content within breath samples was determined with isotope-selective non-dispersive infrared spectrometry. A 72-h monitoring performed in healthy subjects revealed that a statistically significant rise in breath (13)CO₂ occurs between the 1st and the 9th hour and between the 1st and the 24th hour after intake of a test meal containing 300 mg (13)C-MTG (n=10) or 100 g (13)C-CF (n=12), respectively.

Potent inhibitory effect of alcoholic beverages upon gastrointestinal passage of food and gallbladder emptying.

Background And Aims: Current knowledge about the effect of alcoholic beverages on postprandial functioning of the digestive system is scarce and inconsistent. This study addresses their influence upon meal movement along the gut and meal-induced gallbladder emptying.

Methods: Three examination blocks involved each 12 healthy volunteers.

Pragmatically on the sense of taste - a short treatise based on culinary art.

The sense of taste is essential for proper functioning of the organism. The authors describe, in an accessible way, the complex mechanisms of taste perception. The structure of particular taste receptors, variants of their activation, as well as physical and chemical factors modifying the sensation of taste, are presented.

Comparison of two dosage regimens of the substrate for the [13C]methacetin breath test.

The [(13)C]methacetin breath test ([(13)C]MBT)--a valuable non-invasive tool dedicated to the assessment of the liver metabolic capacity--still needs standardisation. The aim of this study was to check whether currently used dosage regimens of [(13)C]methacetin provide concordant [(13)C]MBT results in subjects with an atypical body constitution. Healthy volunteers: low body mass<55 kg (eight women), and high body mass>95 kg (eight large body frame men) were recruited.

C-methacetin breath test reproducibility study reveals persistent CYP1A2 stimulation on repeat examinations.

Aim: To find the most reproducible quantitative parameter of a standard (13)C-methacetin breath test ((13)C-MBT).

Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers (10 female, 10 male) underwent the (13)C-MBT after intake of 75 mg (13)C-methacetin p.o.

On a refinement of the ¹³C-mixed TAG breath test.

The present study was aimed to improve and simplify the 13C-mixed TAG (13C-MTG) breath test while keeping it acceptable for the patient. Healthy volunteers (ten women and eight men) were examined on four occasions, receiving in a random order 300 mg 13C-MTG: (1) contained in two wafers; (2) administered with a 50 g wheat roll; as well as given with either (3) 10 or (4) 30 g butter, spread onto a 50 g wheat roll, as the test meal, respectively. Samples of expiratory air were taken for 6 h postprandially for the mass spectroscopic measurement of 13CO2 enrichment.

Interference of acute cigarette smoking with [¹³C]methacetin breath test.

It is essential to establish whether and how environmental factors affect the reliability of [(13)C]methacetin breath test ((13)C-MBT). In 12 healthy volunteers (smokers), a standard (13)C-MBT with 75 mg [(13)C]methacetin was performed twice in random order: on a control day without smoking and on another day with smoking two cigarettes antecedently. A considerable flattening of the curve of the momentary (13)C recovery within the expiratory air was observed when the (13)C-MBT was performed after smoking.

Effect of the osmolality of caloric and acaloric liquids on gastric myoelectrical activity in humans.

Background: The aim was to establish the effect of the osmolality of orally consumed liquids on gastric myoelectrical activity (GMA).

Material/methods: Twenty-five healthy volunteers (13 women, 12 men aged 29.4+/-1.

Normative values for the 13C-mixed triglyceride breath test in two age groups.

Background: To investigate if age affects the results of the 13C-mixed triglyceride (13C-MTG) breath test.

Material/methods: Two groups of 12 healthy subjects (group Y, 25.0+/-0.

Gastric myoelectrical activity in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Objective: To examine gastric myoelectrical activity in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

Materials And Methods: The study comprised 11 female PBC patients (average age 53.4 years, range 43-70) and two aged-matched control groups: 11 (53.

Ability to digest starch assessed noninvasively with a 13CO2 breath test - comparison of results obtained in two groups of different age.

Background: We evaluated the effect of age on the results of a cornflakes breath test that determines the efficiency of starch digestion.

Material/methods: Two groups of 12 fasted healthy subjects (group Y, 24.7+/-0.

Unreliability of breath methane as a candidate indicator of functional bowel disorders.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to examine the reproducibility of methane and hydrogen in exhaled air breath after a per-oral load of lactulose.

Methods: Methane was present in the exhaled breath of 21 of 50 healthy subjects recruited by advertisement. Three methane breath tests were performed in 12 women (aged 23.

[Measurement of the orocaecal transit time after an oral lactulose load--does the fasting breath hydrogen concentration affect the feasibility of the test?].

Unlabelled: The study evaluated the influence of a fasted hydrogen breath concentration on the feasibility of an ambulatory measurement of the orocaecal transit time (OCTT).

Material And Methods: Forty-two healthy subjects (36 women, 6 men, aged 27.0 +/- 8.

A systematic study of a neutral meal suitable for subjects undergoing 13CO2 breath tests.

Background: Some 13CO2 breath tests require prolonged breath sampling. The study aimed to validate a meal which could be served to subjects without interference with the measured breath 13CO2 profile.

Material/methods: Eight healthy volunteers were examined on three separate days.

Exact profiles of (13)CO(2) recovery in breath air after per oral administration of [(13)C]methacetin in two groups of different ages.

The aim of this study is to determine if age is a factor influencing the results of a [(13)C]methacetin breath test ((13)C-MBT). Two groups of healthy volunteers, each comprising six men and six women, but differing in average age (Y=young, 25.1+/-0.