ABSTRACT
Gastrointestinal motility disturbances during endotoxemia are probably caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced factors: candidates include nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1ß, and interleukin-6. Flow cytometry was used to determine the effects of LPS and these factors on gastric emptying (evaluated indirectly by determining percent gastric retention; percentGR) and gastrointestinal transit (GIT) in male BALB/c mice (23-28 g). NO (300 æg/mouse, N = 8) and TNF-alpha (2 æg/mouse, N = 7) increased (P < 0.01) GR and delayed GIT, mimicking the effect of LPS (50 æg/mouse). During early endotoxemia (1.5 h after LPS), inhibition of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) by a selective inhibitor, 1400 W (150 æg/mouse, N = 11), but not antibody neutralization of TNF-alpha (200 æg/mouse, N = 11), reversed the increase of GR ( percentGR 78.8 ± 3.3 vs 47.2 ± 7.5 percent) and the delay of GIT (geometric center 3.7 ± 0.4 vs 5.6 ± 0.2). During late endotoxemia (8 h after LPS), both iNOS inhibition (N = 9) and TNF-alpha neutralization (N = 9) reversed the increase of GR ( percentGR 33.7 ± 2.0 vs 19.1 ± 2.6 percent (1400 W) and 20.1 ± 2.0 percent (anti-TNF-alpha)), but only TNF-alpha neutralization reversed the delay of GIT (geometric center 3.9 ± 0.4 vs 5.9 ± 0.2). These findings suggest that iNOS, but not TNF-alpha, is associated with delayed gastric emptying and GIT during early endotoxemia and that during late endotoxemia, both factors are associated with delayed gastric emptying, but only TNF-alpha is associated with delayed GIT.