The gastrointestinal effects of intraluminal fats may be critically dependent on the chain length of fatty acids released during lipolysis. We postulated that intraduodenal administration of lauric acid (12 carbon atoms; C12) would suppress appetite, modulate antropyloroduodenal pressure waves (PWs), and stimulate the release of cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) more than an identical dose of decanoic acid (10 carbon atoms; C10). Eight healthy males (19-47 yr old) were studied on three occasions in a double-blind, randomized fashion. Appetite perceptions, antropyloroduodenal PWs, and plasma CCK and GLP-1 concentrations were measured during a 90-min intraduodenal infusion of 1) C12, 2) C10, or 3) control (rate: 2 ml/min, 0.375 kcal/min for C12/C10). Energy intake at a buffet meal, immediately after completion of the infusion, was also quantified. C12, but not C10, suppressed appetite perceptions (P < 0.001) and energy intake (control: 4,604 +/- 464 kJ, C10: 4,109 +/- 588 kJ, and C12: 1,747 +/- 632 kJ; P < 0.001, C12 vs. control/C10). C12, but not C10, also induced nausea (P < 0.001). C12 stimulated basal pyloric pressures and isolated pyloric PWs and suppressed antral and duodenal PWs compared with control (P < 0.05 for all). C10 transiently stimulated isolated pyloric PWs (P = 0.001) and had no effect on antral PWs but markedly stimulated duodenal PWs (P = 0.004). C12 and C10 increased plasma CCK (P < 0.001), but the effect of C12 was substantially greater (P = 0.001); C12 stimulated GLP-1 (P < 0.05), whereas C10 did not. In conclusion, there are major differences in the effects of intraduodenal C12 and C10, administered at 0.375 kcal/min, on appetite, energy intake, antropyloroduodenal PWs, and gut hormone release in humans.

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Nutrients inhibit gastric emptying in a dose-related fashion. We postulated that load-dependent gastric emptying results from the saturation of mucosal absorptive mechanisms, so that a longer length of the small intestine is exposed to unabsorbed nutrients as more nutrient enters the intestine to participate in this negative feedback. To test this idea, we limited exposure of 0.25 to 1.0 M glucose meals to various lengths of duodenum and jejunum in 17 dogs. The effects of these limited perfusions were then compared with experiments in which the whole gut (ALL) was exposed to the nutrient. Maximal inhibition was seen with 1.0 M meal and was similar with perfusions of 150 cm and ALL. By contrast, even with the 1.0 M load, no inhibition of gastric emptying was seen when glucose meal was confined to the first 15 cm of the proximal duodenum. Only 50-60% of maximal inhibition was observed during confinement of 1.0 M meal to the proximal 65 cm. We concluded that glucose sensors are present in both the proximal and the distal gut and the inhibition was related to the length of the small intestine exposed to glucose.

Intestinal perfusion with carbohydrates inhibits gastric emptying via vagal and spinal capsaicin-sensitive afferent pathways. The aim of the present study was to determine the role of 1) 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)(3) receptors (5-HT(3)R) in mediating glucose-induced inhibition of gastric emptying and 2) 5-HT(3)R expression in vagal and spinal afferents in innervating the duodenum. In awake rats fitted with gastric and duodenal cannulas, perfusion of the duodenum with glucose (50 and 100 mg) inhibited gastric emptying. Intestinal perfusion of mannitol inhibited gastric emptying only at the highest concentration (990 mosm/kgH(2)O). Pretreatment with the 5-HT(3)R antagonist tropisetron abolished both glucose- and mannitol-induced inhibition of gastric emptying. Retrograde labeling of visceral afferents by injection of dextran-conjugated Texas Red into the duodenal wall was used to identify extrinsic primary afferents. Immunoreactivity for 5-HT(3)R, visualized with an antibody directed to the COOH terminus of the rat 5-HT(3)R, was found in >80% of duodenal vagal and spinal afferents. These results show that duodenal extrinsic afferents express 5-HT(3)R and that the receptor mediates specific glucose-induced inhibition of gastric emptying. These findings support the hypothesis that enterochromaffin cells in the intestinal mucosa release 5-HT in response to glucose, which activates 5-HT(3)R on afferent nerve terminals to evoke reflex changes in gastric motility. The primary glucose sensors of the intestine may be mucosal enterochromaffin cells.

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