Effects of diabetes mellitus on gastric motility in rats

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common endocrine diseases that affects most body organs. Peristaltic disorders and gastric distension have also been observed in diabetes. Because the effect of diabetes on gastric motility has not been fully examined, we decided to determine if gastric motility is also affected by diabetes in rat. This study was carried out at Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran from October 2004 to February 2005. Three groups of male wistar rats (control, vehicle, diabetic) weighing 200-250 g were used. Diabetic state was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 45 mg/kg streptozotocin. Animals were anesthetized by intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 50 mg/kg thiopental sodium. After tracheostomy and laparatomy, a balloon was inserted into the stomach, which was attached to a pressure transducer system via a cannula and this whole system was connected to a physiograph. Acetylcholine (Ach) was the stimulant agent which was used intraperitoneally. There was no significant difference between basal intragastric pressures in three groups. Also there was no significant difference in the basal and Ach-stimulated intragastric pressure among the three groups. But Ach-stimulated intragastric pressure was more than the basal state in each group (control 28.3+-1.77 vs 14+-1.4, vehicle 30.8+-2.03 vs 15.9+-1.56 and diabetic 30.6+-0.05 vs 13.7+-0.84 mmHg). Although it has been shown that diabetes can change gastric acid and pepsin secretion in rats, no significant change in gastric motility could be shown. (author)