Myoelectrical activity of small intestine in rats with experimental Parkinson's disease

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility is governed by enteric nervous system being under surveillance of central and autonomic representation. In Parkinson's disease (PD) GI dysmotility has been attributed in part to peripheral action of neurotoxines. We evaluated the effect of chronic salsolinol administration on intestinal myoelectrical activity (IMA) during fasting and in response to gastric distension (GD) in rats. Fasting IMA recordings didn't reveal differences in frequency of migrating myoelectrical complexes (MMC) (p = 0.06) and dominant frequency (DF) of slow waves (p = 0.1) between salsolinol and saline group. However in response to gastrointestinal stimulation with GD in the salsolinol group DF of IMA remained unchanged whereas in the controls increased (p = 0.04). The results suggest the direct effect of salsolinol on gastro-duodenal reflexes in PD rats.