ß-Endorphins are not responsible for delayed gastric emptying of digestible solids after exercise in professional cyclists. A preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE: It has been reported that professional cyclists had an accelerated solid gastric emptying which decreased by increasing the exercise intensity. That could be explained by a predominance of stress-dependent motility inhibitors such gastrointestinal hormones, neurotransmitters and or the predominance of the gastric inhibitory vagal motor circuit. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the role of ß-endorphins, inhibitors of gastric motility, in these findings. METHODS: Gastric emptying of solids marked with Tc99 while resting and plasmatic levels of ß-endorphins were evaluated in 27 healthy controls and 19 professional cyclists (day 1). Besides, gastric emptying of solids was also assessed in cyclists when they reached 50% (day 1) and 75% (day 2) of the maximum oxygen consumption (low and high, respectively), during exercise on the cycle-ergometer. The third day, naloxone was administered in cyclists in order to block the ß-endorphins receptors and gastric emptying was measured when they reached 75% of the maximum oxygen consumption. RESULTS: Basal ß-endorphin levels were lower in cyclists vs controls (p<0.05) and they increased with the exercise intensity (p<0.001). There were no significant differences in gastric emptying of solids with or without naloxone when 75% of the maximum oxygen consumption was reached. CONCLUSIONS: The inhibitory effect of the exercise in the gastric emptying of solids does not seem to be secondary to the action of ß-endorphins, that leaves the gastric inhibitory vagal motor circuit a more likely predominant role.

Therapeutic approach of esophageal bezoar due to enteral feed.

Enteral feed bezoars are a rare and difficult to treat complication of enteral feeding. In our case, we report the case of a young man with prolonged admission at the intensive care unit; who requires enteral nutrition. This doesn't run properly after a week; which is why we performed an endoscopy with the finding of an esophageal bezoar that didn't respond to endoscopic treatment at first; being finallay resolved with a second endoscopic therapy after treatment with solvent substances.

Is gastroparesis that is often detected in patients with alcoholic chronic liver disease a manifestation of an autonomic dysfunction syndrome? A preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: the autonomic dysfunction defines the neuropathy of the autonomic nervous system. The prevalence of the gastric dysmotility and its relationship with the autonomic dysfunction in patients with alcohol chronic liver disease is not well known. METHODS: thirty-six patients with alcohol chronic liver disease and 25 healthy controls were evaluated, in order to detect an autonomic dysfunction through different cardiovascular reflexes and gastric emptying tests. RESULTS: ninety-four per cent of the patients showed an impaired R index (variations in heart rate during six deep inspirations-expirations per minute) and/or S/S-HR (variations in heart rate when standing from a supine position). Seventy-five per cent of the patients showed gastroparesis (T1/2: gastric half-emptying time was delayed). There was a correlation between the R index and T1/2 (r = -0.49; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: we suggest that gastroparesis detected in alcoholic chronic liver disease is another clinical manifestation of the autonomic parasympathetic dysfunction.

Temporomandibular joint dislocation after an upper endoscopy: a complication to consider.

After observing a case of a temporomandibular joint dislocation after an upper endoscopy, we carried out a literature review to find out how frequent it is and suggest the sedation as a possible risk factor to such complication.

Colon perforation due to fistulization of a pancreatic pseudocyst.

We present a computed tomography image of a patient with acute necrotizing pancreatitis due to alcohol, who developed several pseudocysts, one of which fistulized into the colon.