[Results of animal experiments with videodensitometry in the assessment of gastrointestinal motility].

Abstract

It is possible to register video-densitometrically the gastrointestinal motility visible in fluoroscopic image using a video-signal analyser. The influence of metoclopramide at the propulsive movement of the stomach wall of rats was checked in vivo. The propulsive gastric movement increased in case of small doses of metoclopramide, higher doses stopped the motility. The propulsive gastric movement is parallel to the evaluation of the stomach. Metoclopramide has only a mild influence on the contraction frequency. We found that videodensitometry is also a practical method for evaluation of local wall motility of an intestinal segment of a rabbit. The non-visible motion is recorded and evaluated by means of several physical parameters (frequency, moving velocity of waves). Videodensitometry does not supply information on the causes of motion; hence, a combination with other methods, i.e. the registration of the electromyogram (EMG), is useful. In this way the mechanical answer to EMG-changes is simple to quantify. The experiment with rabbits affords a proof regarding the practicability of the method for pharmaco-physiological investigations.