Gastric balloon reduces food intake and body weight in obese rats

A less invasive method than gastric reduction surgery for treating obesity was tested by inserting balloons into the stomachs of obese rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were placed on a high fat diet. After 4 months, the rats weighed an average of 750 g or 23% more than rats on a chow diet. Balloons were then passed orally into the stomach, inflated with 10 ml of water, and detached from the inflating tube. Eight rats had inflated balloons; six rats had no balloons. The balloons, which could be palpated, remained inflated for 12 to 49 days with a mean of 25 days. During the period of inflation, rats with balloons consumed significantly less food (p less than 0.001) relative to rats without balloons. Gastric emptying rate was significantly slowed (p less than 0.0025) in rats with inflated balloons compared to rats with balloons that had deflated and rats with no balloons. Histology of the stomachs that held inflated balloons did not reveal pathology.