title: Role of sex hormones in gastrointestinal motility in pregnant and non-pregnant rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To correlate gastric contractility, gastrointestinal transit, and hormone levels in non-pregnant (estrous cycle) and pregnant rats using noninvasive techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female rats (n = 23) were randomly divided into (1) non-pregnant, (contractility, n = 6; transit, n = 6); and (2) pregnant (contractility, n = 5; transit, n = 6). In each estrous cycle phase or at 0, 7, 14, and 20 d after the confirmation of pregnancy, gastrointestinal transit was recorded by AC biosusceptometry (ACB), and gastric contractility was recorded by ACB and electromyography. After each recording, blood samples were obtained for progesterone and estradiol determination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the estrous cycle, despite fluctuations of sex hormone levels, no significant changes in gastrointestinal motility were observed. Days 7 and 14 of pregnancy were characterized by significant changes in the frequency of contractions (3.90 ± 0.42 cpm and 3.60 ± 0.36 cpm vs 4.33 ± 0.25 cpm) and gastric emptying (168 ± 17 min and 165 ± 15 min vs 113 ± 15 min) compared with day 0. On these same days, progesterone levels significantly increased compared with control (54.23 ± 15.14 ng/mL and 129.96 ± 30.52 ng/mL vs 13.25 ± 6.31 ng/mL). On day 14, we observed the highest level of progesterone and the lowest level of estradiol compared with day 0 (44.3 ± 15.18 pg/mL vs 24.96 ± 5.96 pg/mL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gastrointestinal motility was unaffected by the estrous cycle. In our data, high progesterone and low estradiol levels can be associated with decreased contraction frequency and slow gastric emptying.
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana Fernandes
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Madileine Francely
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Americo
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Yuri Karen
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Sinzato
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo Tadeu
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Volpato
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana Aparecida
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Corá
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Felipe Freitas
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Calabresi
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo Brandt
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Debora Cristina
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Damasceno
authors.affiliation: Juliana Fernandes Matos, Marcos Felipe de Freitas Calabresi, Yuri Karen Sinzato, Debora Cristina Damasceno, Jose Ricardo Arruda Miranda, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jose Ricardo Arruda
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Miranda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism*; D030762:Estrous Cycle / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology*; D005772:Gastrointestinal Transit / Q000502:physiology; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013270:Stomach / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol
keywords: Gastric emptying; Gastrointestinal motility; Magnetic fields; Reproductive physiological process; Sex hormones