Role of sex hormones in gastrointestinal motility in pregnant and non-pregnant rats

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T15:30:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2016-07-07 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) AIM: To correlate gastric contractility, gastrointestinal transit, and hormone levels in non-pregnant (estrous cycle) and pregnant rats using noninvasive techniques. METHODS: Female rats (n = 23) were randomly divided into (1) non-pregnant, (contractility, n = 6; transit, n = 6); and (2) pregnant (contractility, n = 5; transit, n = 6). In each estrous cycle phase or at 0, 7, 14, and 20 d after the confirmation of pregnancy, gastrointestinal transit was recorded by AC biosusceptometry (ACB), and gastric contractility was recorded by ACB and electromyography. After each recording, blood samples were obtained for progesterone and estradiol determination. RESULTS: In the estrous cycle, despite fluctuations of sex hormone levels, no significant changes in gastrointestinal motility were observed. Days 7 and 14 of pregnancy were characterized by significant changes in the frequency of contractions (3.90 +/- 0.42 cpm and 3.60 +/- 0.36 cpm vs 4.33 +/- 0.25 cpm) and gastric emptying (168 +/- 17 min and 165 +/- 15 min vs 113 +/- 15 min) compared with day 0. On these same days, progesterone levels significantly increased compared with control (54.23 +/- 15.14 ng/mL and 129.96 +/- 30.52 ng/mL vs 13.25 +/- 6.31 ng/mL). On day 14, we observed the highest level of progesterone and the lowest level of estradiol compared with day 0 (44.3 +/- 15.18 pg/mL vs 24.96 +/- 5.96 pg/mL). CONCLUSION: Gastrointestinal motility was unaffected by the estrous cycle. In our data, high progesterone and low estradiol levels can be associated with decreased contraction frequency and slow gastric emptying. Sao Paulo State Univ, BR-18618970 Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Fed Mato Grosso, Inst Ciencias Biol & Saude, Ave Valdon Varjao 6390, BR-78600000 Barra Do Garcas, MT, Brazil Univ Estadual Ciencias Saude Alagoas, BR-57010300 Maceio, AL, Brazil Univ Sao Paulo, BR-14049900 Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, BR-18618970 Botucatu, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2010/14845-4 FAPESP: 2015/14923-9 CNPq: 150456/2009-3