AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 255, Issue 6 800-G806, Copyright © 1988 by American Physiological Society
Effect of ileal infusion of lipid on jejunal motor patterns after a nutrient and nonnutrient meal
I. M. Welch, P. A. Davison, J. Worlding and N. W. Read
Sub-Department of Human Gastrointestinal Physiology and Nutrition, University of Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, United Kingdom.
To investigate how ileal lipid delays small bowel transit, pressure
activity was recorded at multiple sites in the human small intestine during
ileal infusion of either lipid or saline. Initial studies showed that ileal
lipid reduced the contraction rate in the jejunum but not in the duodenum
or ileum. The effect of ileal lipid was further investigated by recording
pressures at seven sites in the jejunum after ingestion of either a
nutrient or a nonnutrient meal. The nutrient meal induced an irregular
motility pattern; ileal lipid significantly reduced the contraction rate,
the percentage of contractions involved in propagated events, the mean
length of propagation, and the propagation index. The nonnutrient meal
induced a pattern containing discrete clusters of contractions. Ileal lipid
significantly reduced the occurrence of contraction clusters and the mean
length of propagation. Thus, although the delay in small bowel transit
observed during ileal infusion of lipid can be explained by reductions in
the rate and the degree of propagation of jejunal contractions, the
mechanism varies according to the type of meal.
