Panenteric Transit Times and Contractile Activity in Diabetic Gastroenteropathy

Panenteric gastrointestinal dysmotility in diabetic gastroenteropathy remains incompletely understood. We aim to (1) compare gastrointestinal transit times, contractile activity, and pH levels between individuals with and without diabetic gastroenteropathy and (2) investigate associations between symptoms and contractile activity.

We compared 37 healthy individuals to 68 individuals with diabetic gastroenteropathy. Gastrointestinal segmental transit times, contractile activity, and pH were measured with SmartPill. The Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale were used to evaluate symptoms.

Compared to controls, individuals with diabetic gastroenteropathy had prolonged median gastric emptying time (3.3 [IQR, 2.5-4.4] vs 2.5 [IQR, 1.9-3.6] hours, P = 0.023), antroduodenal transition time (23 [IQR, 8-52] vs 11 [IQR, 2-25] minutes, P = 0.015), colonic transit times (36.0 [IQR, 17.3-53.5) vs 20.8 [IQR, 14.0-28.8] hours, P = 0.004), and whole-gut transit time (46.1 [IQR, 24.3-72.9] vs 28.7 [IQR, 22.0-42.7] hours, P = 0.002). The diabetes group had lower antral contraction frequency (1.5 [IQR, 0.9-2.1] vs 2.5 [IQR, 1.5-3.9] contractions per minute, P = 0.004) and sum of amplitudes (1941 [1377-2763] vs 2975 [1734-5337] mmHg, P = 0.004). In contrast, the diabetes group had higher colonic sum of amplitudes and area under the contraction curve. The antral contraction frequency was unassociated with gastrointestinal symptoms. Still, the overall stomach contraction frequency increased by 30% (P < 0.001) and 15% (P = 0.003) in individuals with diabetes for each incremental increase in nausea and reflux scores, respectively.

Gastrointestinal transit times, as well as antral and colonic contractile activity, differed between individuals with diabetic gastroenteropathy and controls. The overall gastric contraction frequency was associated with symptom severity.