title: Reproducibility of a solid and of a liquid caloric meal for gastric emptying studies.
abstract: Simple meals are required for routine scintigraphic gastric emptying studies. We evaluated the reproducibility of a caloric liquid meal (520 kcal) compared to that of a solid meal (638 kcal) in 8 and 11 healthy volunteers, respectively. Gastric emptying rates and half-times were similar in two tests using the same meal, while the methods used to express lag times were not highly reproducible. The emptying rates and half-times of the liquid meal were delayed after the intake of bellafoline. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that: (a) gastric emptying rates and half-times are reproducible parameters for the expression of scintigraphic gastric emptying studies; (b) mathematical methods to express lag times are not highly reproducible; (c) a 500 kcal liquid meal is sensitive to the effects of bellafoline, a drug able to delay gastric emptying. Further clinical evaluation is required to test its applicability in routine studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tosetti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paternicò
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stanghellini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbara
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corbelli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marengo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levorato
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Monetti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corinaldes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004326:Drinking; D004435:Eating; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013671:Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013671:Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid