Allergy, Asthma and Immunology: Gastric Motility Following Ingestion of a Solid Meal in a Cohort of Adult Asthmatics


J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2013 Jul;19(3):355-365. English. Published online 2013 July 08. http://dx.doi.org/10.5056/jnm.2013.19.3.355
© 2013 The Korean Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility


Gastric Motility Following Ingestion of a Solid Meal in a Cohort of Adult Asthmatics
Wadu Arachchige Dharshika Lakmali Amarasiri,¹ Arunasalam Pathmeswaran,² Arjuna Priyadharshin de Silva,³ Anuradha Supun Dassanayake,⁴ Channa Dhammika Ranasinha,⁴ and Hithanadura Janaka de Silva³
¹Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka.
²Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka.
³Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka.
⁴Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka.
Correspondence: Wadu Arachchige Dharshika Lakmali Amarasiri, MD. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, P.O. Box 6, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Sri Lanka. Tel: +94-112958337, Fax: +94-718350683, Email: lakmaliamarasiri@gmail.com

Received August 22, 2012; Revised April 26, 2013; Accepted April 30, 2013.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Go to: Abstract
Background/Aims Asthmatics have abnormal esophageal motility and increased prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The contribution of gastric motility is less studied. We studied gastric myoelectrical activity, gastric emptying (GE) and their association with GERD symptoms and vagal function in adult asthmatics. Methods Thirty mild, stable asthmatics and 30 healthy controls underwent real-time ultrasonography and 1 hour pre- and post-prandial cutaneous electrogastrography, following a test meal (480 kcal, 60% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 20% fat and 200 mL water). The percentage of normal slow waves and arrhythmias, dominant frequency and power, frequency of antral contractions, gastric emptying rate (GER) and antral motility index (MI) was calculated. Twenty-seven asthmatics underwent gastroscopy and in all subjects GERD symptoms were assessed by a validated questionnaire. Vagal function parameters were correlated with gastric motility parameters. Results The asthmatics (37% male; 34.8 ± 8.4 years) and controls (50% male; 30.9 ± 7.7 years) were comparable. None had endoscopic gastric pathological changes. Twenty asthmatics described GERD symptoms. Twenty-two (73.3%) asthmatics showed a hypervagal response. Compared to controls, asthmatics had delayed GER and lower MI, lower percentage of normal gastric slow waves, more gastric dysrythmias and failed to increase the post-prandial dominant power. There was no correlation of GE and cutaneous electrogastrography parameters with presence of GERD symptoms or with vagal function. Conclusions Asthmatics showed abnormal gastric myoelectrical activity, delayed GE and antral hypomotility in response to a solid meal compared to controls. There was no association with vagal function or GERD symptom status.