KL. Effects of intravenous fructose on gastric emptying and antropyloroduodenal motility in healthy subjects. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 297: G1274-G1280, 2009. First published October 1, 2009 doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00214.2009.-Gastric emptying (GE) of glucose is regulated closely, not only as a result of inhibitory feedback arising from the small intestine, but also because of the resulting hyperglycemia. Fructose is used widely in the diabetic diet and is known to empty from the stomach slightly faster than glucose but substantially slower than water. The aims of this study were to determine whether intravenous (iv) fructose affects GE and antropyloroduodenal motility and how any effects compare to those induced by iv glucose. Six healthy males (age: 26.7 Ϯ 3.8 yr) underwent concurrent measurements of GE of a solid meal (100 g ground beef labeled with 20 MBq 99m Tc-sulfur colloid) and antropyloroduodenal motility on three separate days in randomized order during iv infusion of either fructose (0.5 g/kg), glucose (0.5 g/kg), or isotonic saline for 20 min. GE (scintigraphy), antropyloroduodenal motility (manometry), and blood glucose (glucometer) were measured for 120 min. There was a rise in blood glucose (P Ͻ 0.001) after iv glucose (peak 16.4 Ϯ 0.6 mmol/l) but not after fructose or saline. Intravenous glucose and fructose both slowed GE substantially (P Ͻ 0.005 for both), without any significant difference between them. Between t ϭ 0 and 30 min, the number of antral pressure waves was less after both glucose and fructose (P Ͻ 0.002 for both) than saline, and there were more isolated pyloric pressure waves during iv glucose (P ϭ 0.003) compared with fructose and saline (P ϭ NS for both) infusions. In conclusion, iv fructose slows GE and modulates gastric motility in healthy subjects, and the magnitude of slowing of GE is comparable to that induced by iv glucose. glucose; glycemia scintigraphy; manometry IT IS GENERALLY RECOGNIZED that, in health, gastric emptying is regulated tightly, primarily as a result of feedback inhibition generated by interaction of nutrients with the small intestine, the magnitude of which is dependent on the length and region of small intestine exposed to nutrient (36, 37), so that the overall rate of entry of nutrients into the small intestine approximates ϳ2 kcal/min in healthy subjects (5,28,36,45). The motor correlates of the slowing of gastric emptying induced by the presence of nutrients in the small intestine include relaxation of the proximal stomach (2), suppression of antral motility (22), and stimulation of phasic and tonic pyloric contractions (23). Monosaccharides empty from the stomach more slowly than water or isotonic saline because of small intestinal feedback (17), but there may be subtle differences between them. In particular, fructose, when given as intragastric loads to monkeys (45), empties more rapidly than glucose. The slightly more rapid rate of emptying of oral fructose compared with oral glucose has also been demonstrated in humans (11,17,24,52).In ...