Accelerated Gastric Emptying in Hypertensive Subjects

The phenomenon of accelerated gastric emptying has been previously reported in two conditions that are considered to be part of the insulin-resistance syndrome: namely, noninsulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM) and increased body mass index (BMI). No previous studies have assessed the rate of gastric emptying in patients with essential hypertension, another disease considered to be part of the insulin-resistance syndrome. Methods: Scintigraphic gastric emptying studies were performed on nine hypertensive subjects and on nine sex-, age-, ethnicity and BMI-matched controls. Results: Subjects with hypertension had significantly more rapid gastric half-emptying times (gastric T 50 ) (40.0 ± 6.9 min versus 56.6 ± 3.7 min, p = 0.02) than controls. There was an inverse relationship between average glucose during the first 30 min and 60 min of the oral glucose tolerance test with the gastric half-emptying time (Spearman rank correlation coefficient r S = -0.64, p = 0.0045 and r S = - 0.48, p = 0.0428, respectively). Conclusion: The occurrence of accelerated gastric emptying in hypertensive subjects, in addition to that previously reported in subjects with NIDDM or increased BMI, suggests the possibility that accelerated gastric emptying may be a common finding in insulin resistant states.