Slow gallbladder emptying reverts to normal but small intestinal transit of a physiological meal remains slow in celiac patients during gluten-free diet

• Published in: Neurogastroenterology and motility Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 100 - e80
• Main Authors: Benini, F., Mora, A., Turini, D., Bertolazzi, S., Lanzarotto, F., Ricci, C., Villanacci, V., Barbara, G., Stanghellini, V., Lanzini, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2012
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Breath Tests; Celiac disease; Celiac Disease - diet therapy; Celiac Disease - physiopathology; Diet, Gluten-Free; Diets; emptying; Fasting; Female; Gallbladder; Gallbladder - physiopathology; Gallbladder Emptying - physiology; gallbladder intraepithelial lymphocytes; Gastric Emptying - physiology; Gastrointestinal Transit - physiology; Humans; Intestinal transit time; Intestine; Lymphocytes; Male; Mast cells; Middle Aged; Motility; Postprandial Period; Ultrasonography
• ISSN: 1350-1925; 1365-2982
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2982.2011.01822.x

Background  Alterations of small intestinal transit and gallbladder (GB) motility have been reported in celiac disease (CD) in studies involving, in most cases, non‐physiological experimental conditions and artificial stimuli to motility. Our aims were to quantitate non‐invasively small intestinal transit time and GB emptying during administration of a physiological and palatable solid meal, and to assess the effect of gluten‐free diet (GFD).
Methods  We simultaneously measured mouth‐to‐cecum transit time (MCTT) using a validated H2 breath test, and GB motility using ultrasonography. We studied CD patients before (n = 19) and during (n = 14) GFD, and healthy volunteers (n = 24) following administration of a physiological solid meal (Kcal 539).
Key Results  Mouth‐to‐cecum transit time was more prolonged in CD (mean ± SEM: 235 ± 96 min) than in controls (169 ± 65 min, P = 0.0039). The GB fasting volume and postprandial residual volume were significantly higher in CD than in controls, and GB emptying constant was slower in CD than in controls. During GFD, GB emptying reverted to normal, but MCTT remained unchanged (229 ± 69 min) and more prolonged in CD than in controls (P = 0.0139). During GFD, duodenal infiltration with lymphocytes and mast cells persisted higher than that in controls, and the number of mast cells lying in proximity of nervous endings did not change.
Conclusions & Inferences  Slow postprandial MCTT in response to a physiological meal does not revert to normal during GFD, an effect mirroring incomplete histopathologic recovery.