Gastric electrical stimulation optimized to inhibit gastric motility reduces food intake in dogs

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that that a method of gastric electrical stimulation (GES) optimized to inhibit gastric motility was effective in reducing food intake in dogs.

Female dogs with a gastric cannula and gastric serosal electrodes were studied in three experiments: (1) to determine the best parameters and locations of GES in inhibiting gastric tone, slow waves, and contractions in dogs;( 2) to investigate the reproducibility of the inhibitory effects of GES; and (3) to study the effect of the GES method on food intake in dogs.

(1) For GES to exert significant effects on gastric motility, a pulse width of ≥2 ms was required, and with other appropriate inhibitory parameters, GES was able to increase gastric volume by 190.4 %, reduce antral contractions by 39.7 %, and decrease the percentage of normal slow waves by 47.6 %. In addition, the inhibitory effect of GES was more potent with the stimulation electrodes placed along the lesser or greater curvature than placed in the middle, and more potent with the electrodes placed in the distal stomach than in the proximal stomach; (2) the inhibitory effects of GES on gastric motility were reproducible; (3) the GES method optimized to inhibit gastric motility produced a 20 % reduction in food intakes in non-obese dogs.

GES with appropriate parameters inhibits gastric motility, and the effects are reproducible. The GES method optimized to inhibit gastric motility reduces food intake in healthy dogs and may have a therapeutic potential for treating obesity.