Abstract
The effect of gastric emptying of two doses (35 and 70μg) of enprostil given orally was evaluated in eight patients with endoscopically confirmed duodenal ulcer. Gastric emptying of a radiolabelled solid meal was assessed with the use of a gamma camera. Enprostil dose-dependently accelerated gastric emptying of solids; the gastric emptying index, Ix, increased from 1.62 ± 0.38 min−1· 10−2 after placebo to 2.77 ± 0.56 min−1 · 10−2 after 35 μg enprostil (p < 0.05 versus placebo) and to 3.65 ± 0.64 min−1 · 10−2 after 70 μg enprostil (p < 0.005 versus placebo). The fraction of the radiolabelled food retained in the stomach at the end of the gastric emptying examination (that is, after 90 min) amounted to 50.5 ± 6.9% after placebo, 35.2 ± 7.4% after 35 μ enprostil, and 24.1 ± 8.4% after 70 μg enprostil. It is concluded that enprostil elicits a significant speeding up of solid-phase gastric emptying in duodenal ulcer patients.