[Effect of cisapride on delayed gastric emptying in diabetic patients]

Delayed gastric emptying is supposed to affect glycemic control in diabetic patients by relative over dosing of insulin to blood glucose level due to delayed absorption of nutrients. Therefore, treatment of delayed gastric emptying is important in diabetic patients. Cisapride, a potent gastrokinetic agents, has been reported to activate the motility from stomach to colon. We evaluated the effect of acute oral administration of cisapride in seven diabetic patients (aged 46-62) with delayed gastric emptying. All patients complicated with autonomic neuropathy. Ten mg of cisapride was administered orally 30 minutes before breakfast and lunch on the day of study. Gastric emptying study was done using 99mTc-tin colloid labeled omelet meal served with 2 slices of toast and 200 ml of milk. With cisapride, the retention rate at time of 150 minutes decreased from 76 +/- 10% to 47 +/- 13% (mean +/- SD) (p less than 0.001) and starting index shortened from 86 +/- 28 minutes to 38 +/- 27 minutes (p less than 0.05). Gastric emptying speed became faster from 0.31 +/- 0.16%/min to 0.43 +/- 0.12%/min (0.2 greater than p greater than 0.1). Blood glucose level before meal decreased from 117 +/- 27 mg/dl (mean +/- SE) to 74 +/- 7 mg/dl (n.s.), and difference between basal and maximal blood glucose level became larger from 46 +/- 27 mg/dl to 84 +/- 30 mg/dl (n.s.). We conclude that acute oral administration of cisapride has significant effect in improving delayed emptying of solid meal in diabetic patients.