Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Sep 7, 2012; 18(33): 4570-4577
Published online Sep 7, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i33.4570
Reduction of gastrointestinal motility by unilateral thyroparathyroidectomy plus subdiaphragmatic vagotomy in rats
Jun Ho Lee, Oh Deog Kwon, Seon Ho Ahn, Keun Han Choi, Ji Hye Park, Seoul Lee, Bong Kyu Choi, Kyu Yong Jung
Jun Ho Lee, Keun Han Choi, Ji Hye Park, Seoul Lee, Bong Kyu Choi, Kyu Yong Jung, Department of Pharmacology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea
Oh Deog Kwon, Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, South Korea
Seon Ho Ahn, Department of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea
Author contributions: Lee JH conducted the surgery; Kwon OD performed the biochemistry and analyzed the data; Ahn SH designed the study; Choi KH analyzed the data; Park JH, Lee S and Choi BK compiled the data; Jung KY wrote the paper.
Supported by Grants of the Korea Healthcare Technology R and D Project, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, A090216; and the National Research Foundation of Korea, 2011-0014777
Correspondence to: Kyu Yong Jung, DVM, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, 344-2 Shinyong-dong, Iksan, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea. wkuniv@wonkwang.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-63-8506796 Fax: +82-63-8506764
Received: January 13, 2012
Revised: March 2, 2012
Accepted: March 20, 2012
Published online: September 7, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To investigate whether the combined methods of unilateral thyroparathyroidectomy (TPX) and subdiaphragmatic vagotomy (VAX) can be adapted for rats and used as a reliable method to produce a rat model of long-term reduction of gastrointestinal (GI) motor function.

METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, normal, sham-operated and unilateral TPX plus VAX. The TPX plus VAX rats received VAX 7 d after application of TPX, and dietary intake and fecal output were then measured daily for 1 wk. After completion of the experiments, gastric emptying and small bowel transit were measured in vivo, and the contractile responses of colonic strips to excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters were estimated using isometric force transducers in vitro.

RESULTS: In comparison with normal and sham-operated rats, rats which received unilateral TPX plus VAX showed a significant decrease in body weight and in fecal pellet number and weight throughout the entire week. Application of TPX plus VAX to rats markedly delayed gastric emptying and small bowel transit. In TPX plus VAX rats, the longitudinal muscles of the proximal colon showed a significant reduction in contractile responses to acetylcholine (5 × 10-6 mol/L), and a dramatic attenuation of contractile responses was also observed in both the longitudinal and circular muscles of the distal colon. However, the spontaneous contractility of the colonic strips from TPX plus VAX rats was not significantly affected by treatment with N-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (0.1 mol/L).

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that unilateral TPX plus VAX reduced the motor function of the GI tract in rats, and the reduced gut motility is likely mediated, at least in part, by inhibition of the excitatory neurotransmitter system.

Keywords: Unilateral thyroparathyroidectomy; Subdiaphragmatic vagotomy; Gastric emptying; Small bowel transit; Rat