薬理と治療

Abstract

Background The administration of liquid enteral nutrients by gastrostomy can cause diarrhea or aspiration pneumonia due to gastro︱esophageal reflux（GER） of nutrients, because of the poor retention of liquid enteral nutrients in the stomach. Semi︱solid enteral nutrients can induce physiological motion of the digestive tract, so these nutrients are often used to avoid GER complications. Objectives In this study, we investigated the solidity of the semi︱solid enteral nutrient EN︱P0201 in the stomach. We evaluated the incidence of GER and the transition of nutrients from the stomach to the small bowel in rats. Methods First, we assessed the disintegration of EN︱P0201 in artificial gastric acid. Next, we infused each enteral nutrient, mixed with trypan blue, for 30 minutes to 7︱week ︱old gastrostomized SD rats. The rats were then quickly euthanized and the incidence of GER was evaluated based on the presence of dye in the esophagus. The transition of nutrients to the small bowel was calculated by deriving how far along the dye had transitioned as a percentage of the whole small bowel length. Results EN︱P0201 retained its solidity in artificial gastric acid. Rats receiving EN︱P0201 had a significantly lower incidence of GER compared with rats receiving OSN︱001. The transition of nutrients to the small bowel in rats receiving EN︱P0201 was significantly reduced compared with rats receiving OSN︱001. Conclusions These results suggest that the semi︱solid enteral nutrient EN︱P0201 is retained in the stomach and may be useful in the prevention of GER of nutrients.