Increased gastric emptying induced by Helicobacter heilmannii type 1 infection in rats

The association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric motility abnormalities is still controversial, partly because of the lack of an appr opriate animal model. H, heilmannii type 1 (Hh1), a spiral bacterium that i nfects the stomach of both man and pigs, easily colonises and induces an in flammatory response in the gastric mucosa of rodents, For these reasons, th e present study investigated the relationship between gastric motility in r ats experimentally infected with Hh1 and correlated the results with serum gastrin and gastric somatostatin concentrations, as these hormones seem to be involved in gastric motility, Ten rats were inoculated with gastric mucu s from an Hh1-positive pig and 10 animals with gastric mucus from an Hh1-ne gative pig (control group), After 56 days, gastric emptying was studied in vivo by scintigraphy, The animals were then killed, blood samples were coll ected for serum gastrin measurement, strips of the gastric wall were obtain ed for an in-vitro motor study and fragments of the gastric antrum were obt ained for somatostatin content evaluation, Hh1 diagnosis and histological s tudy. There was a significant increase in gastric emptying in the test grou p compared with the controls as demonstrated by the in-vivo and in-vitro st udies, Serum gastrin levels were significantly higher and somatostatin leve ls were lower in the test group than in the controls. In addition, infected animals showed evidence of gastritis on histological examination. Gastric motility is altered in rats infected with Hh1, a fact possibly related to c oncurrent abnormalities of gastrin and somatostatin secretion.