n a series of elegant studies reported in this issue of ICellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Anitha et al report that a high-fat diet results in slowing of gastrointestinal transit (by geometric center of fluorescein isothiocyanate distribution after gavage), total gastrointestinal transit (by first arrival of a blue dye in stool), and distal colonic transit (by the time tak...

Chronic stress precipitates or exacerbates the symptoms of functional bowel disorders, including motility dysfunction. The cellular mechanisms of these effects are not understood. We tested the hypothesis that heterotypic chronic stress (HeCS) elevates the release of norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla, which enhances transcription of the gene-regulating expression of Ca(v)1.2 (L-type) chan...

BACKGROUND Fibre treatment often produces gaseous symptoms which have been attributed to fermentation by colonic bacteria with increased gas production. Effects of fibre ingestion on intestinal gas flow are unexplored. AIMS We aimed to test the hypothesis that consumption of a high fibre diet retards gas transit. SUBJECTS Ten healthy volunteers participated. METHODS To investigate the eff...

Rome III diagnostic criteria separate patients with idiopathic chronic constipation into mutually exclusive categories of constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) or functional constipation (FC). However, several experts think that these conditions are not different disorders, but parts of a continuum. To shed light on this issue, we examined studies that compared IBS-C with FC...

Background: Fibre treatment often produces gaseous symptoms which have been attributed to fermentation by colonic bacteria with increased gas production. Effects of fibre ingestion on intestinal gas flow are unexplored. Aims: We aimed to test the hypothesis that consumption of a high fibre diet retards gas transit. Subjects: Ten healthy volunteers participated. Methods: To investigate the effec...

Mirtazapine is a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mirtazapine on gastrointestinal motility in dogs, including solid gastric emptying, antral and small intestinal contractions, and small intestinal and colonic transit. Six dogs were implanted with two cannulas located at the duodenum and the ascending colon; another s...