A computerised system for measurement of vibration at the abdominal surface was constructed which was addressed to the evaluation of gastrointestinal (GI) motor function. Preliminary studies revealed a dominant low frequency signal which was synchronous with the heartbeat and was considered representative of aortic pulsation. This was excluded by selective spectral filtration. The remaining sig...

Gastrointestinal function was assessed in six patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had developed diarrhoea on treatment with Auranofin. With the administration of Auranofin whole gut transit time decreased markedly (to 50% or less of control values) in five of six patients. The speed of passage of intestinal contents through the colon was certainly increased but attempts to assess transit thr...

A simple technique for measuring gastrointestinal transit times using radioopaque pellets of barium-impregnated polythene has been developed and validated. A normal range has been established by studying 25 normal subjects; all passed the first marker within three days and most passed 80% of the markers within five days.

A case of a male newborn infant with spontaneous perforation of Meckel's diverticulum is reported. The clinical course consisted of delayed occlusive disorders and bloody stools following 36 h of normal gastrointestinal transit, without pneumoperitoneum and infection. Pathogenesis of the perforation is discussed and the importance of early diagnosis, especially in maternity hospitals, is emphas...

AIM To compare the effects of regular vs low-FODMAP rye bread on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms and to study gastrointestinal conditions with SmartPill®. METHODS Our aim was to evaluate if rye bread low in FODMAPs would cause reduced hydrogen excretion, lower intraluminal pressure, higher colonic pH, different transit times, and fewer IBS symptoms than regular rye bread. The study wa...

Scintigraphic techniques can measure sequentially gastric emptying, small bowel transit, and colonic transit in humans, and comparable methods for experimental studies in animals would be useful. We developed such a method in dogs and examined the effects of prokinetic drugs on regional transit. Two isotopes were given to fasting dogs. Polystyrene pellets labeled with99mTc were mixed in a can o...

The effect of olsalazine on stool output and the transit of a solid radiolabelled meal through the stomach, small intestine and colon was studied in six patients with ulcerative colitis intolerant of sulphasalazine. Olsalazine 250 mg four times daily significantly accelerated gastric emptying (mean +/- SD; 45.3 +/- 24.2 min v 67.3 +/- 33.1 min, p less than 0.05), mouth to caecum transit time (2...

Gastrointestinal transit times (GItts) were compared in separate litters of 10- and 15-day-old Sprague Dawley rats using barium sulphate. By tracking the leading front of the bolus on radiographs, the gastrocaecal transit times in pups were estimated. To measure the total GItt, the duration from orogastric gavage until an observable defecation of barium sulphate was recorded. The gastrocaecal t...

Although not as well standardized as gastric emptying (GE) scintigraphy, esophageal transit scintigraphy, if performed in a comprehensive manner including both quantitative and qualitative analysis of single- and multiple-swallow studies, is clinically useful when expertise in esophageal manometry is not available or not tolerated and when esophageal manometry or barium videofluoroscopy results...

Food and nutrition studies in animals and human beings often meet with technical difficulties and sometimes with ethical questions. An alternative to research in living animals is the dynamic multicompartmental in vitro model for the gastrointestinal tract described by Minekus et al. (1995) and Havenaar & Minekus (1996). The dynamic conditions that are simulated in this model are peristaltic mo...