Impact of gastric emptying and small intestinal transit on blood glucose, intestinal hormones, glucose absorption in the morbidly obese.

This study evaluated gastric emptying (GE) and small intestinal (SI) transit in people with morbid obesity and their relationships to glycaemia, incretin hormones, and glucose absorption METHODS: GE and caecal arrival time (CAT) of a mixed meal were assessed in 22 morbidly obese (50.2 ± 2.5 years; 13 F:9 M; BMI: 48.6 ± 1.8 kg/m) and 10 lean (38.6 ± 8.4 years; 5 F:5 M; BMI: 23.9 ± 0.7 kg/m) subjects, using scintigraphy. Blood glucose, plasma 3-O-methylglucose, insulin, glucagon, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) were measured. Insulin sensitivity and resistance were also quantified RESULTS: When compared with lean subjects, GE (t50: 60.7 ± 6.5 vs. 41.1 ± 7.3 min; P  = 0.04) and CAT (221.5 ± 9.8 vs. 148.0 ± 7.1 min; P =  0.001) of solids were prolonged in morbid obesity. Postprandial rises in GIP (P = 0.001), insulin (P  = 0.02), glucose (P = 0.03) and 3-O-methylglucose (P = 0.001) were less. Whereas GLP-1 increased at 45 mins post-prandially in lean subjects, there was no increase in the obese (P  = 0.04). Both fasting (P = 0.045) and postprandial (P = 0.012) plasma glucagon concentrations were higher in the obese CONCLUSIONS: GE and SI transit are slower in the morbidly obese, and associated with reductions in postprandial glucose absorption, and glycaemic excursions, as well as plasma GIP and GLP-1.