Effects of domperidone on gastric emptying: a crossover study using a continuous real-time 13C breath test (BreathID system).

OBJECTIVE

To determine the correlation between domperidone and gastric emptying using the continuous real time 13C breath-test (BreathID system), a novel non-invasive technique for measuring gastric emptying.

METHODS

Six healthy male volunteers participated in this randomized, two-way crossover study. Subjects fasted overnight and were randomly assigned to receive a test meal (400kcal per 400mL) 30 minutes after intake of domperidone (10mg) with 50 mL of water or intake of 50 mL of water alone. Gastric emptying was monitored for 4h after administration of the test meal by 13C-acetic acid breath test continually performed using the BreathID system. The time taken for emptying of 50% of the labeled meals (T1/2), the analog to the scintigraphy lag time for 10% emptying of the labeled meal (T lag), the gastric emptying coefficient (GEC), and the regression-estimated constants (beta and kappa) were calculated. Differences in the parameters measured at two time-points were analyzed using the Wilcoxon's signed-rank test.

RESULTS

No significant differences in calculated parameters (T lag, T1/2, GEC, beta or kappa) were observed between the treated and non-treated groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that domperidone had no effect on gastric emptying. The drug ameliorates nausea and vomiting via its antagonic activity against dopamine receptor. Therefore, domperidone probably ameliorates nausea through other mechanisms.