Blood glucose concentration influences postprandial fullness in IDDM

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and delayed gastric emptying both occur frequently in patients with long-standing IDDM, but the relationship between them is relatively weak. Recent studies in normal subjects have indicated that blood glucose concentration may increase the perception of sensations arising from the upper GI tract. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among postprandial fullness, the rate of gastric emptying, and blood glucose concentration in IDDM patients.

We studied measurements of gastric emptying, blood glucose concentrations, cardiovascular autonomic nerve function, upper GI symptoms, and postprandial hunger and fullness in 40 IDDM patients (16 men, 24 women). ages 19-63 years. Gastric emptying of solids and liquids was measured scintigraphically, upper GI symptoms were measured by questionnaire immediately before ingestion of the test meal, and fullness and hunger were measured by visual analog scales every 15 min. Blood glucose concentrations were measured at -5, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min.

Solid gastric emptying was delayed in 58% of the patients, and both solid and liquid gastric emptying were slower (P < 0.05) in women than in men. The score for upper GI symptoms was not significantly related to gastric emptying. In contrast, postprandial fullness, but not hunger, was related to the amount of solid (r = 0.36, P < 0.05) but not liquid in the stomach. Both before (r = 0.39, P < 0.05) and after (r = 0.47, P < 0.01) the meal, fullness was related to blood glucose concentration. Postprandial fullness was also related to autonomic nerve dysfunction (r = 0.39, P < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that blood glucose concentration, the rate of solid gastric emptying, and autonomic nerve dysfunction were independent determinants of postprandial fullness, together accounting for 47% of the variance.

These observations demonstrated that, in IDDM, postprandial fullness is influenced by blood glucose concentration, the rate of solid gastric emptying, and autonomic nerve function.