Time-course of recovery of gastric emptying and motility in rats with experimental spinal cord injury.
We have shown recently that spinal cord injury (SCI) decreases basal gastric contractions 3 days after injury. In the present study we used the [(13)C]-octanoic acid breath test and gastric strain gauges with the aim to investigate the time-course of recovery from postinjury gastric stasis in rats that underwent experimental SCI at the level of the third thoracic (T3) vertebra. Following verification of the [(13)C]-breath test sensitivity in uninjured rats, we conducted our experiments in rats that underwent T3-spinal contusion injury (T3-CI), T3-spinal transection (T3-TX) or laminectomy (control) surgery at 3 days, 1, 3 or 6 weeks postinjury. Our data show that compared to rats that underwent laminectomy, rats that received SCI showed a significant reduction in the cumulative per cent [(13)C] recovery. Although more marked in T3-TX rats, the delayed gastric emptying in T3-CI and T3-TX rats was comparable in the 3 days to 3 weeks period postinjury. At 6 weeks postinjury, the gastric emptying in T3-CI rats recovered to baseline values. Conversely animals in the T3-TX group still show a significantly reduced gastric emptying. Interestingly, the almost complete functional recovery observed in T3-CI rats using the [(13)C]-breath test was not reflected by analysis of spontaneous gastric contractions after SCI. These data indicate that T3-SCI produces a significant reduction in gastric emptying independent of injury severity (T3-CI vs T3-TX) that persists for at least 3 weeks after injury. However, 6 weeks postinjury T3-CI, but not T3-TX, rats begin to demonstrate functional recovery of gastric emptying.
Qualls-Creekmore
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Neurotrauma and Nutrition Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA.
Tong
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Holmes
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GM
D000818:Animals; D001944:Breath Tests; D002210:Caprylates / Q000737:chemistry; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000378:metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology*; D005772:Gastrointestinal Transit / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*
D002210:Caprylates; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; C031492:octanoic acid