Abstracts
1999 Digestive Disease Week

# 2085 INTRALUMINAL APPLICATION OF CAPSAICIN REDUCES POSTOPERATIVE GASTRIC AND COLONIC ILEUS IN RATS
Tilman T Zittel, Univ Hosp Tuebingen, Tubingen Germany; A Huge, M E Kreis, T Meile, H D Becker, E C Jehle, Univ Hosp, Tubingen Germany

Introduction. Postoperative ileus is parly mediated by neuropeptides contained in visceral afferent nerve fibers, which can be depleted of its neuropeptides by capsaicin (caps). We have previously shown that inhibitory reflex pathways can be temporarily ablated by intraluminal (i.1.). caps application (Am J Physiol 267:G1142-G1145). We therefore investigated the effects of i.1. caps application on postoperative ileus in rats. Methods. In SD rats, strain gauge transducers were sutured either to the stomach or the colon in parallel to the circular muscle layer as described recently (J Surg Res 74:112-118). At the same time, caps was infused i.1. into the cecum for 30 min (12 mmol/kg) or given intraperitoneally (i.p., 1 mmol/kg). After 3 days of recovery, baseline motility was recorded for 30 min. Then, abdominal surgery was simulated by laparotomy and cecal manipulation for 5 min. Postoperative motility was recorded for another 120 min. Recordings were analyzed by dedicated software, calculating the motility index (MI, area under the motility curve). In addition, the tailflick test was used to control for system afferent nerve fiber ablation. Results. Baseline motility was not altered by caps treatment. However, i.1. (Fig. 1: gastric motility; Fig. 2: colonic motility; *p<0.05 vs vehicle) and i.p. caps treatment (data not shown) significantly increased postopertive motility. While i.p. caps treatment significantly delayed the tailflick test treatment (veh vs. caps: 7.30±0.42 vs 9.07±0.24 sec, p<0.05), indicating systemic caps effects, it was underchanged by i.l. caps treatment (veh vs caps: 7.85±0.26 vs 7.36±0.23 sec, n.s.). Conclusions: Intraluminal capsaicin treatment was effective in improving recovery from postoperative ileus. Possibly, capsaicin depletes visceral afferent nerve fibers of the gut wall by its neuropeptides, which in term canot be released by abdominal surgery. Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgeneischaft (Zi 415/4-1)

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