Are gastric, jejunal, or both forms of enteral feeding gastroprotective during stress?
GROUND: Clinical data suggest enteral nutrition prevents stress ulceration and intragastric nutrients prevent restraint-induced gastric injury. The purpose of these studies was to determine if jejunal nutrients can protect without gastric contact and to determine if gastric pH, motility, or mucosal perfusion is affected. METHODS: In Experiment 1, 27 rats were restrained for 2 h at room temperature followed by 2 h in cold (4 degrees C), with intragastric (IG) or intrajejunal (IJ) 2 ml/h infusions of saline or 25% glucose. Gastric lesions, pH, volumes, and glucose concentrations were measured postmortem. In Experiment 2, 23 rats had gastric strain gauges implanted >5 days prior to a 0.5 ml/h IG or IJ infusion during stress. In Experiment 3, 40 rats were anesthetized for laser Doppler measurements of gastric mucosal perfusion and arterial catheter monitoring of systemic hemodynamics. Rats received 0.5-ml boluses of concentrated glucose or saline IG or IJ, and were monitored for 60 min. RE
