Study on gastric emptying of solid in patients with type 2 diabetes by using ~(13)C-octanoic acid breath test

Objective To investigate gastric emptying of solid in elderly type 2 diabetic patients and to investigate the relationship between gastric emptying of solid and cardiovascular autonomic nerve function. Methods Gastric emptying of solids was measured by means of ~(13)C-octanoic acid breath test in 71 elderly type 2 diabetic patients and 30 normal control subjects.Furthermore,cardiovascular autonomic nerve funition was evaluated. Results The gastric emptying half-time(GET_ 1/2 ) and lag phase time (T_ lag )were much longer in diabetic patients than those in control subjects(P0.01,respectively).The percentage of the meal retained at 120 min (Ret_ 120 min ) was significantly higher in diabetic patients compared with the normal controls(P0.01).The incidence of prolonged gastric emptying was higher in diabetic patients than that in control subjects(P0.01).In diabetic patients with delayed gastric emptying,the prevalence of cardivascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) was significantly increased compared with those who had a normal gastric emptying.There was a significant positive correlation between GET_ 1/2 and the CAN scores in diabetic patients(r=0.353,P0.01). Conclusions This study shows that prolonged gastric emptying can be observed in 38% of elderly diabetic patients,and the prevalence of prolonged gastric emptying may be higher among those with CAN. ~(13)C-octanoic acid breath test may represent a feasible method for measurement of gastric emptying.