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Impaired colonic motor response to cholinergic stimulation in patients with severe chronic idiopathic (slow transit type) constipation

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Abstract

Chronic idiopathic constipation, especially the slow transit type, is a troubling problem often afficting young women. The pathophysiological basis for this entity is unknown, although a defective cholinergic innervation has been postulated. We tested the hypothesis that cholinergic colonic innervation is deranged in this condition by studying colonic motor activity after strong cholinergic stimulation with edrophonium chloride in 14 women complaining of slow transit constipation. Unlike healthy subjects, constipated patients showed minimal or no response to edrophonium injection. It is concluded that in slow transit constipation there is an important alteration of colonic cholinergic activity and that edrophonium chloride may represent a useful test drug for colonic pathophysiological investigations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio di Motilità Intestinale, Istituto di Gastroenterologia ed Endoscopia Digestiva, Università di Perugia, Italy

    Gabrio Bassotti MD, Cesare Betti MD & Antonio Morelli MD

  2. Divisione di Riabilitazione Gastroenterologica, Ospedale Clinicizzato di Valeggio sul Mincio, Università di Verona, Italy

    Giuseppe Chiarioni MD, Fabrizio Bonfante MD & Italo Vantini MD

  3. Direzione Medica, Mediolanum Farmaceutici, Milano, Italy

    Bruno Pietro Imbimbo PharmD

  4. Center for Study of Functional and Motility Disorders of the Gut, Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Francis Scott Key Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland

    Gabrio Bassotti MD & William E. Whitehead PhD

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  1. Gabrio Bassotti MD
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  2. Giuseppe Chiarioni MD
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  3. Bruno Pietro Imbimbo PharmD
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Bassotti, G., Chiarioni, G., Imbimbo, B.P. et al. Impaired colonic motor response to cholinergic stimulation in patients with severe chronic idiopathic (slow transit type) constipation. Digest Dis Sci 38, 1040–1045 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01295719

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01295719

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