The effects of tegaserod on interstinal motility in rats with cirrhosis

Objective To observe the effects of tegaserod on intestinal motility in rats with cirrhosis and to discover its mechanism.Methods Twenty four Wister rats were randomly divided into cirrhosis model group, cirrhosis treated with tegaserod group and control group, and the intestinal motility changes of rats were assayed by Dextran blue-2000 as a indicator. The contents of motilin(MTL), substance P (SP)and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in plasma and jejunum tissue were determined with radioimmunonassay. The cholinergic nerves in jejunal myoenteric plexus were observed with acetylcholinesterase histochemical staining and analysed by computer. Resultes Compared with control group, intestinal motility of rats in cirrhosis model group was markedly delayed(P0.01), the contents of MTL and VIP were markedly increased (P0.01,P0.05) in plasma and jejunum, SP was markedly decreased (P0.001), and the distributions of myenteric cholinergic nerves were significantly decreased. In tegaserod group, the intestinal motility of rats was significantly recovered, the contents of MTL and VIP had no markedly changes compared with model group, and the SP content and the distributions of myenteric cholinergic nerves had markedly changes. Conclusion Tegaserod may improves intestinal motility of rats with cirrhosis, which may be associated with SP and myoenteric cholinergic nerves.