Abstract
The differences between the postprandial mixing or propulsion and the interdigestive motility of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are already known. Earlier studies showed dose-dependent differences in the effects of erythromycin on interdigestive motility. The various GI side-effects (vomiting, diarrhoea) also suggest that there are different effects of erythromycin on the GI motility. The aim of our study was to examine postprandially the propulsive effects of different doses of erythromycin on the movement of intraluminal contents in the upper GI tract of the rat. The animals were fasted for 24 h before the experiments but water was given freely. The rats received 1.5 ml 1.5% methylcellulose painted with 0.05% phenol-red intragastrically (test solution). Erythromycin (E. lactobionate) was given intravenously at doses of 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg 15 min before the administration of a test solution. The animals were sacrificed 20, 60 and 120 min after administration of methylcellulose, when the distance between the front of the painted intraluminal contents and the pylorus was measured and expressed as a percentage of the total length of small intestine. The phenol-red content in the stomach and small intestine was measured spectrophotometrically and the gastric emptying was calculated from the ratio of the measured total and intestinal phenol-red content. Our results showed that the small doses of erythromycin (0.1 and 0.25 mg/kg) accelerated gastric emptying after 20 min but did not change significantly the propulsive motility of upper small intestine; however, large doses of erythromycin (1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg) decreased gastric emptying and upper GI motility after 20 and 60 min. In summary, the prokinetic action of small doses of erythromycin was demonstrated, but its effect-time on GI motility is short and the ratio of the stimulating and inhibitory doses is 1:10.
Correspondence
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Weber FH, Richards RD, McCallum RW. Erythromycin: a motilin agonist and gastrointestinal prokinetic agent. Am J Gastroenterol. 1993; 88: 485–90.
Otterson MF, Sarna SK. Gastrointestinal motor effects of erythromycin. Am J Physiol. 1990; 259: G355–63.
Sarna SIC, Soergel KH, Koch TR et al. Gastrointestinal motor effects of erythromycin in humans. Gastroenterology. 1991; 101: 1488–96.
Sütó G, Király A, Taché Y. Interleukin 13 inhibits gastric emptying in rats: Mediation through prostaglandin and corticotropin-releasing factor. Gastroenterology. 1994; 106: 1568–75.
Urbain JI, Vantrappen G, Janssens J, Van Cutsem E, Peeters T, De Roo M. Intravenous erythromycin dramatically accelerates gastric emptying in gastroparesis diabeticorum and normals and abolishes the emptying discrimination between solids and liquids. J Nucl Med. 1990; 31: 1490–3.
Downey KM, Chaput De Saintonge DM. Gastrointestinal side effects after intravenous erythromycin lactobionate. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1986; 21: 295–9.
Peeters TL, Depoortere I. Motilin receptor: A model for development of prokinetics. Dig Dis Sci. 1994; 39: 76–8.
Ebert R, Creutzfeldt W. Hormone production: the small intestine and regulatory peptides. In: Caspary WF, ed. Structure and Function of the Small Intestine. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica; 1987: 106–15.
Depoortere I, Peeters TL, Vantrappen G. Development of motilin receptors and of motilin-and erythromycin-induced contractility in rabbits. Gastroenterology. 1990; 99: 652–8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Karádi, O., Bódis, B., Mózsik, G. (1997). Effects of Erythromycin on the Propulsive Motility of Upper Gastrointestinal Tract in Rats. In: Gaginella, T.S., Mózsik, G., Rainsford, K.D. (eds) Biochemical Pharmacology as an Approach to Gastrointestinal Disorders. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5390-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5390-4_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6267-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5390-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive