Gastroduodenal Symptoms in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Are Correlated with Gastric Emptying and Serum Levels of Active Ghrelin

• Published in: Digestive diseases (Basel) Vol. 37; no. 3; p. 226
• Main Authors: Sales, Kamila Maria Oliveira, Cavalcanti, Renan Frota, Nobre E Souza, Miguel Angelo, Saraiva, Larissa Gurgel Mota, Braga, Lucia Libanez Bessa Campelo, de Castro, Margareth, Oliveira, Ricardo Brandt, Souza, Marcellus Henrique Loiola Ponte
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01-01-2019
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Breath Tests; Caprylates - analysis; Carbon Isotopes; Case-Control Studies; Duodenum - pathology; Duodenum - physiopathology; Female; Gastric Emptying - physiology; Ghrelin - blood; Humans; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - blood; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - physiopathology; Leptin - blood; Male; Middle Aged; Stomach - pathology; Stomach - physiopathology; Inflammatory bowel disease; Gastrointestinal symptoms; Gastric emptying; Peptides; Ghrelin; Leptin
• ISSN: 1421-9875
• DOI: 10.1159/000494920

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with delay in gastric emptying, increase in ghrelin, and decrease in leptin. The aim was to investigate the correlation between gastroduodenal (GD) symptoms, gastric emptying, and serum levels of active ghrelin and leptin in IBD. Twenty-seven IBD patients and 26 healthy volunteers were asked to complete the Porto Alegre Dyspeptic Symptoms Questionnaire. A gastric emptying test for solids was performed using a C13 octanoic acid breath test. During this test, serum samples were collected for measuring active ghrelin and leptin concentrations by radioimmunoassay.
Patients with IBD demonstrated delayed gastric emptying compared with healthy volunteers. In patients with GD symptoms, the delay in gastric emptying was more pronounced, and there were significant correlations of satiety and vomiting with gastric emptying. Basal leptin, but not active ghrelin, increased in patients with GD symptoms compared with patients without these symptoms. There were negative correlations between basal active ghrelin with total Porto Alegre score and epigastric pain in IBD patients with GD symptoms. Key Messages: In IBD, satiety and vomiting were associated with delay in gastric emptying. Conversely, epigastric pain had a negative correlation with active ghrelin. Our results suggest that different pathophysiological mechanisms contribute to GD symptoms in IBD.