Gastric emptying after Roux-Y and Billroth-I gastrectomy depends on viscosity of meal and contractile patterns of small intestine in dogs.

The aim of the study was to examine gastrointestinal motility after distal gastrectomy and the influence of meal viscosity on gastric emptying. Gastrointestinal motility and gastric emptying of acaloric meals with different viscosities were measured in normal dogs and after a two-thirds gastrectomy with Billroth-I or Roux-Y gastroenterostomy. After distal gastrectomy, gastric emptying depended on the viscosity of the meal, as in normal dogs. Acaloric viscous meals emptied significantly faster in the Billroth-I than in the Roux-Y group due to different contractile patterns of the duodenum and jejunum. In comparison to normal dogs, gastric emptying of viscous meals was accelerated in the Billroth-I and delayed in the Roux-Y group. Several motility parameters of the stomach and intestine differed between the normal and gastrectomized dogs. Thus, after distal gastrectomy, the viscosity of the meal and the contractile patterns of the small intestine are important determinants of gastric emptying.

Effects of nutrients on gastrointestinal motility and gastric emptying after distal gastrectomy with Roux-Y gastrojejunostomy in dogs.

The aim of the study was to clarify whether nutrients are still capable of slowing gastric emptying following Roux-Y gastrectomy, as in normal dogs. Gastrointestinal motility and gastric emptying of acaloric and nutritive meals with different viscosities were measured in normal dogs and after a two-thirds Roux-Y gastrectomy. In gastrectomized dogs low-viscosity nutritive meals emptied unduly rapidly in an initial phase, although the frequency and spread of contractions, ie, the propulsive activity of the jejunal Roux limb were diminished. A slow emptying rate during the following period was due to a long-lasting inhibition of gastric and jejunal motility. Medium-viscosity nutritive meals emptied in gastrectomized dogs as slowly as in normal animals, but this effect was primarily caused by the meal viscosity and only secondarily by the nutrients. It is concluded that following Roux-Y gastrectomy a regulation of gastric emptying is preserved; however, the onset of an effective control is delayed, resulting in a rapid initial emptying of low-viscosity meals.

The control mechanisms of gastric emptying are not overridden by motor stimulants.

We wanted to determine if an acceleration of the normal emptying rate by motor stimulants interfers with control mechanisms limiting gastric emptying. Therefore, we studied the effects of 5-hydroxytryptophane (5-HTP) and cisapride on canine gastrointestinal motility and gastric emptying after ingestion of viscous acaloric and nutritive meals. Prolonged contractions and relaxations that change lumen size (isotonic component) and wall tension (isometric component) are defined as "basal contractions" and "basal relaxations", respectively. The nutrient meal emptied much slower than the acaloric meal due to several alterations of gastric, pyloric, and duodenal motility. Both drugs stimulated antral motility but failed to accelerate gastric emptying of the nutrient meal. The main causes for the failure were a basal relaxation of the proximal antrum and a basal contraction of the duodenum. In conclusion, basal contractions of the proximal antrum and duodenum play an important role in the process of gastric emptying, and under physiological conditions the control mechanisms of gastric emptying provide an optimal emptying rate that cannot be markedly accelerated by 5-HTP and cisapride.

Forestomach motility in adult sheep when reticular groove closure is provoked by copper sulphate solution.

Forestomach motility in adult sheep when reflex reticular groove closure is provoked by 10 ml of 10% copper sulphate solution was studied electromyographically. Rumen and omasum motility disappeared with the administration of the stimulant, while some muscular activity of the reticulum was always present but was manifested by monophasic, more frequent and weaker contractions than before stimulation; between these contractions very frequent small discharges appeared in the electromyogram from the reticulum. Cyclic activity of the forestomach reappeared 3 to 5 min later and returned gradually to normal. The functional significance of these findings is discussed.

Anatomic arrangement of the hepatic veins in the goat.

In gross anatomic and angiographic examinations of the hepatic veins of 15 goats, the following were seen: (i) The middle hepatic vein was formed by the contribution of two main branches, one branch coming from the quadrate lobe and the other branch from the right lobe. (ii) There were two right hepatic veins, one of them running along the caudate process and the other formed by branches coming from the dorsal part of the right lobe. (iii) The entrance of the middle hepatic vein, as well as the entrance of the left hepatic vein into the caudal vena cava were partly covered by valvelike membranous flaps.

Studies in vitro on the effect of adenosine, adenine and NAD on guinea pig myometrium in the presence of exogenously applied PGE2.

In guinea pig isolated uterine strips, separate addition of adenosine, adenine and NAD was without any effect. Adenosine and NAD when administered after previously applied subthreshold dose of PGE2 exhibited a strong contractile effect. Indomethacin, added to the organ bath before addition of prostaglandin, blocked, partially or totally, the observed synergistic action of PGE2 with adenosine and NAD. From the experimental data of the present work it is postulated that adenosine and NAD stimulate prostaglandin biosynthesis in myometrium as already it has been suggested for ATP, ADP and AMP. The aspect for the existence of a functional link between adenyl compounds and prostaglandins, based on these findings, is reinforced.