Meal Effects on Gastric Bioelectrical Activity Utilizing Body Surface Gastric Mapping in Healthy Subjects

Abstract

SummaryBackgroundGastric sensorimotor disorders are prevalent. While gastric emptying measurements are commonly used, they may not fully capture the underlying pathophysiology. Body surface gastric mapping (BSGM) recently emerged to assess gastric sensorimotor dysfunction. This study assessed varying meal size on BSGM responses to inform test use in a wider variety of contexts.MethodsData from multiple healthy cohorts receiving BSGM were pooled, using four different test meals. A standard BSGM protocol was employed: 30-min fasting, 4-hr post-prandial, using Gastric Alimetry® (Alimetry, New Zealand). Meals comprised: i) nutrient drink + oatmeal bar (482 kcal; ’standard meal’); ii) oatmeal bar alone; egg and toast meal, and pancake (all ∼250 kcal). Gastric Alimetry metrics included BMI-adjusted Amplitude, Principal Gastric Frequency, Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index (GA-RI) and Fed:Fasted Amplitude Ratio (ff-AR).Key Results238 participants (59.2% female) were included. All meals significantly increased amplitude and frequency during the first post-prandial hour (p<0.05). There were no differences in postprandial frequency across meals (p>0.05). The amplitude and GA-RI of the standard meal (n=110) were significantly higher than the energy bar alone (n=45) and egg meal (n=65) (all p<0.05). All BSGM metrics were comparable across the 3 smaller meals (p>0.05). A higher symptom burden was found in the oatmeal bar group vs the standard meal and pancake meal (p=0.01, 0.003, respectively).Conclusions & InferencesThe consumption of lower calorie meals elicited different post-prandial responses, when compared to the standard Gastric Alimetry meal. These data will guide interpretations of BSGM when applied with lower calorie meals.