Gastric "Pacemaker” Reduces Food Intake

Gastric electrical stimulation (GES) using endoscopically placed electrodes could be a viable treatment for obesity, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB, Galveston, USA) developed a GES approach using mucosal electrodes placed in the stomach lining, potentially reducing the complications that can arise with surgically placed serosa--an outer membrane of the stomach--electrodes. They then tested their GES approach in 12 healthy volunteers. The electrodes were placed in the fundus of the stomach and food intake, gastric accommodation, and other parameters were recorded over three consecutive days, both during real GES stimulation and during sham stimulation.

Compared with sham-GES, real GES was associated with significant reductions in food intake and maximum water intake. In addition, real GES delayed gastric emptying during the first 45 minutes after a meal, but not during the remaining time. No significant increases in dyspeptic symptoms were seen with real GES compared with sham stimulation. The results were reported in the April 2006 edition of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

"These data suggest that GES for obesity may be achieved using mucosal electrodes. Future studies are required to prove this concept,” concluded Dr. Jiande DZ Chen and colleagues.

Implantable gastric stimulation used as a "pacemaker” to control eating showed promise as a treatment for morbid obesity when first tested in 1995. Since then, several reports have come out supporting its safety and efficacy, but some patients do not respond.



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