Dual effects of acupuncture on gastric motility in conscious rats

Tatewaki, Makoto; Harris, Michael E.; Uemura, Kenichiro; Ueno, Takayoshi; Hoshino, Etsuo; Shiotani, Akiko; Pappas, Theodore N.; Takahashi, Toshio

doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00715.2002

Cited by 101 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…EA at ST36 was reported to enhance gastric contractions in rats, and the effect was found to be mediated via the vagal pathway (44). In our laboratory's previous study, EA at both ST36 and PC6 accelerated gastric emptying of liquid in dogs (30).…”

Section: Ea Improves Antral Motility Impaired By Rdmentioning

confidence: 77%

Electroacupuncture improves impaired gastric motility and slow waves induced by rectal distension in dogs

Chen¹,

Song²,

Yin³

et al. 2008

American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physi

112

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puncture improves impaired gastric motility and slow waves induced by rectal distension in dogs. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 295: G614 -G620, 2008. First published July 24, 2008 doi:10.1152/ajpgi.90322.2008 is known to induce upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of RD on gastric slow waves (GSW) and motor activity and furthermore to investigate the effects and mechanisms of electroacupuncture (EA) on GSW and motor activity. Eight female hound dogs chronically implanted with gastric serosal electrodes and a gastric fistula were studied in six separate sessions. Antral motility, GSW, heart rate variability, and rectal pressure were evaluated for the above purposes. 1) RD at a volume of 120 ml suppressed antral motility significantly. Guanethidine blocked the inhibitory effect of RD. EA at ST36 was able to restore the suppressed antral contractions induced by RD (16.6 Ϯ 1.7 vs. 8.0 Ϯ 1.4, P Ͻ 0.001). Naloxone partially blocked the effect of EA on antral contractions. 2) RD reduced the percentage of normal GSW from 98.8 Ϯ 0.8% at baseline to 76.1 Ϯ 8.6% (P Ͻ 0.05) that was increased to 91.8 Ϯ 3.0% with EA. The effects of EA on the GSW were nullified by the presence of naloxone. 3) EA did not show any significant effect on rectal pressure, suggesting that the ameliorating effects of EA on RD-induced impaired gastric motility were not due to a decrease in rectal pressure. 4) EA increased the vagal activity suppressed by RD. In conclusion, RD inhibits postprandial gastric motility and impairs GSW in dogs, and the inhibitory effects are mediated via the adrenergic pathways. EA at ST36 is able to restore the RD-induced impaired GSW and motor activities, possibly by enhancing vagal activity, and is partially mediated via the opioid pathway. EA may have therapeutic potential for functional gastrointestinal disorders. adrenergic pathway; gastric slow waves; naloxone CHRONIC, IDIOPATHIC, slow-transit constipation and constipationdominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are commonly observed in clinical practice. These patients frequently complain of upper abdominal symptoms such as bloating, upper abdominal discomfort or pain, and vomiting. The symptoms overlap with lower abdominal symptoms and are resistant to dietary and pharmacological treatments because of the constipation issues; they are related to the presence of impaired gastrointestinal myoelectrical activity and reduced upper gastrointestinal motor activity (1,4,13,31,33,37). This phenomenon has led to the hypothesis that rectal distension (RD) with fecal stasis in the colorectal region directly causes reflexive inhibition of proximal gastrointestinal motility (5,7,9,22,32,50).A number of investigations have indicated that RD induces upper gastrointestinal symptoms, inhibits gastric tone and accommodation, and delays gastric emptying (3, 14, 20 -21, 24, 34 -35, 50). However, little information about the effects of RD on gastric contractions is available, although gastric co...

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Section: Ea Improves Antral Motility Impaired By Rdmentioning

confidence: 77%

Electroacupuncture improves impaired gastric motility and slow waves induced by rectal distension in dogs

Chen¹,

Song²,

Yin³

et al. 2008

American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physi

112

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“…Phase III-like contractions were defined as clustered potent contractions with amplitude of more than 4 g, as previously reported (2,21). Gastric contraction was still monitored for several hours after the feeding.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In humans and dogs, MMC is usually observed every 90 -120 min in the interdigestive state. In contrast, in rats, the MMC cycle is short (less than 20 min) and not as regular as that of humans and dogs (2,7,21). It is rather difficult to distinguish three phases, especially phase III(-like) contractions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

Fixed feeding potentiates interdigestive gastric motor activity in rats: importance of eating habits for maintaining interdigestive MMC

Ariga

Imai²,

Chen³

et al. 2008

American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physi

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Ariga H, Imai K, Chen C, Mantyh C, Pappas TN, Takahashi T. Fixed feeding potentiates interdigestive gastric motor activity in rats: importance of eating habits for maintaining interdigestive MMC. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 294: G655-G659, 2008. First published January 3, 2007 doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00484.2007.-Endogenous ghrelin regulates the occurrence of interdigestive gastric phase III-like contractions in rats. However, the fasted motor pattern is not as regular and potent in humans and dogs. We hypothesize that eating habits play an important role in maintaining a regular interdigestive gastric contractions. We studied the effect of fixed-feeding regimen on interdigestive gastric contractions and plasma acyl ghrelin levels. The fixed-fed rats were trained to the assigned meal feeding regimen, once daily at 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM for 14 days. Free-fed rats were maintained with free access to food. As ghrelin regulates gastric emptying as well, solid gastric emptying was also studied in fixed-fed rats and free-fed rats. In free-fed rats, two of six rats did not show interdigestive gastric phase III-like contractions. In contrast, phase III-like contractions were observed in all rats 14 days after starting the fixed-feeding regimen. The maximal amplitude of phase III-like contractions significantly increased from 8.4 Ϯ 0.6 to 16.3 Ϯ 1.8 g (n ϭ 6, P Ͻ 0.05) 14 days after the start of the fixed feeding. Fasted and postprandial plasma ghrelin levels were significantly increased after 14 days of fixed feeding. Solid gastric emptying was significantly accelerated in fixed-fed rats (72.1 Ϯ 4.2%) compared with that of free-fed rats (58.7 Ϯ 2.7%, n ϭ 6, P Ͻ 0.05). Our present findings suggest that fixed feeding increases plasma ghrelin levels, potent interdigestive contractions, and acceleration of gastric emptying. migrating motor complex; ghrelin; scheduled feeding DURING THE INTERDIGESTIVE state, the stomach and small intestine show a remarkable motor pattern, known as the migrating motor complex (MMC) in dogs (20) and humans (22). MMC consists of three phases: phase I (period of motor quiescence), phase II (period of irregular low-amplitude contractions), and phase III (period of regular high-amplitude contractions). The pulsatile flow immediately ahead of phase III of the MMC implied physiological importance for clearance of secretions, debris, and microbes during fasting and let the stomach be ready to receive a next meal (22).The characteristic feature of gastric MMC is different among species. In humans and dogs, MMC is usually observed every 90 -120 min in the interdigestive state. In contrast, in rats, the MMC cycle is short (less than 20 min) and not as regular as that of humans and dogs (2,7,21). It is rather difficult to distinguish three phases, especially phase III(-like) contractions. Furthermore, sometimes phase III-like contractions are not clearly observed even after a 24-h fasting in rats. These may be explained by the difference of the peptides that regulate MMC. In dogs and humans, gastric ...

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“…Whether this proves to be similar for humans is unknown. The effect of acupuncture is complex in animals, with studies showing that in the rat, electrical stimulation of the ST36 point can induce either excitatory or inhibitory effects on gastric contraction [20] . Multiple variables are possible to explain differences in animals: the site of stimulation and the intensity and type of stimulation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holistic Acupuncture approach to idiopathic refractory nausea, abdominal pain and bloating

Ouyang

2007

WJG

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AIM:To evaluate the effectiveness of a holistic acupuncture approach on nausea, pain, bloating and electrogastrogram (EGG) parameters in patients with intractable symptoms. METHODS:Twelve patients with no or mild nausea (those without nausea had bloating or pain) and 10 with a history of moderate to severe nausea were referred for acupuncture. All underwent an EGG and were treated at acupuncture points PC6, SP4 and DU20. Visual analog scales (VAS) assessing severity of nausea, pain and bloating were obtained before and after acupuncture treatment. Nineteen patients received three and three patients received two treatments. RESULTS:VAS scores for nausea reflected the clinical assessment and differed significantly between mild and moderate/severe nausea groups. Acupuncture significantly improved severity of nausea in both groups with improved pre-treatment nausea between the first and third treatments in the moderate/severe nausea group. Pain scores improved with acupuncture in the mild nausea group only and bloating improved only with the first treatment in this group. Patients with bloating with VAS scores greater than 35 pre-treatment improved with acupuncture and over all VAS scores for pain improved with treatment. Acupuncture increased the power in the 2.7 to 3.5 cpm range in the EGG. CONCLUSION:In this uncontrolled clinical study, a holistic acupuncture approach significantly improved nausea in patients with refractory symptoms and increased the power in the 2.7-3.5 cpm component of the electrogastrogram. Bloating and pain VAS scores improved acutely with treatment. This study suggests that acupuncture may be effective in this refractory group of patients and further study using appropriate controls is warranted.

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Dual effects of acupuncture on gastric motility in conscious rats

Cited by 101 publications

References 46 publications

Electroacupuncture improves impaired gastric motility and slow waves induced by rectal distension in dogs

Electroacupuncture improves impaired gastric motility and slow waves induced by rectal distension in dogs

Fixed feeding potentiates interdigestive gastric motor activity in rats: importance of eating habits for maintaining interdigestive MMC

Holistic Acupuncture approach to idiopathic refractory nausea, abdominal pain and bloating

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