Influence of meal energy on gastric emptying in healthy Chinese

Radionuclide gastric emptying studies of liquid phases were used to evaluate the gastric motility of healthy Chinese. A total of 53 normal volunteers were included in this study and divided into two groups. Group 1, included 20 males and 8 females (ages: 17-73) who received a meal which consisted of 500ml normal saline containing 500 uCi of Tc-99m phytate. Group 2, included 19 males and 6 females (ages: 27-73) who received a meal which consisted of 500ml 5% glucose solution (25g glucose, 100Kcal) labeled with 500 uCi Tc-99m phytate. Studies were performed with the subjects in the supine position and a gamma camera in a left anterior oblique (LAO) position, while data were collected for 30 minutes after injection of the liquid meal. The gastric emptying time was presented as the half-time (T1/2) for the food to empty from the stomach. The study results showed that the T1/2 was 20.5 +/- 7.2 min in Group 1 and 35.3 +/- 11.7 min in Group 2. We conclude that gastric emptying is slower for a liquid meal with a higher caloric content.