The herbal preparation STW5 (lberogast) has potent and region-specific effects on gastric motility.
Functional dyspepsia (FD) is amongst the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders. Symptomatic treatment includes the use of herbal preparations whose effects on gastric motility are unclear. The present study aimed at investigating the effects of STW 5 (Iberogast), a fixed combination of hydroethanolic herbal extracts, on gastric motility in vitro. Muscle strips from guinea-pig gastric fundus, corpus and antrum were set up in organ baths either in circular or longitudinal orientation. Addition of ethanol-free STW 5 to the organ baths (32-512 microg mL(-1)) dose-dependently evoked a sustained and reversible relaxation of circular and longitudinal fundus and corpus muscle strips without changes in phasic activity. In contrast, antral muscle strips responded to STW 5 with a significant increase in the contractile force of phasic contractions without changes in tone. All effects were resistant to tetrodotoxin (0.5 micromol L(-1)), atropine (1 micromol L(-1)), omega-conotoxin GVIA (0.5 micromol L(-1)), capsaicin (1 micromol L(-1)) or L-NAME (100 micromol L(-1)), suggesting that neither nerves nor nitric oxide pathways were involved. These data demonstrate that STW 5 profoundly alters gastric motility in a region-specific but not layer-specific manner and thus implicates Iberogast in the treatment of FD patients suffering from motility disorders with impaired fundus accommodation and/or antral hypomotility.
Hohenester
B
B
Department of Human Biology, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany.
Rühl
A
A
Kelber
O
O
Schemann
M
M
D000818:Animals; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000187:drug effects*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D013270:Stomach / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D010936:Plant Extracts; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; C039964:iberogast; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D002211:Capsaicin; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester