title: Prolonged consumption of moderate doses of alcohol and in vitro gastro-duodenal and ileal contractility in the rat.
abstract: The effects of chronic feeding with moderate doses of ethanol (3% vol/vol in drinking water for 8 weeks), which do not induce tolerance, dependence and withdrawal, on the contractility of gastric, duodenal and ileal strips from rats were investigated. Only 50% of ethanol-treated specimens (as compared to 100% of saccharose-fed controls) exhibited antral phasic contractions (frequency decreased by 31% and 27% in the antrum and duodenum, respectively; P < 0.03 vs. controls). The depolarizing agent potassium chloride (KCl, 80 mM) produced less peak active tension in the fundus of ethanol-fed rats (P < 0.01). In alcoholic rats the sensitivity of the antrum to acetylcholine was fourfold less than that of control specimens. It is concluded that, in the rat, moderate doses of ethanol given chronically impair both spontaneous and tonic contractility of the stomach and duodenal muscle without affecting ileal contraction. It is possible that motility defects in the gut exposed to ethanol concentrations which do not cause tolerance, dependence or withdrawal in the rat may be due to a local rather than a systemic effect on the smooth muscle.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinica Medica I, University of Bari Medical School, Policlinico, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palasciano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Portincasa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Ciaula
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Palmieri
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D004386:Duodenum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007082:Ileum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013270:Stomach / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013395:Sucrose / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D013395:Sucrose; D000109:Acetylcholine