Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System

Several autonomic, hormonal, behavioural and neuropeptidergic bodily responses to stressful stimuli have been described over the past few decades. Both animal models and human paradigms have been explored. It is acknowledged that stress modulates gastrointestinal (GI) motility through central mechan...

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Main Author: Victor Plourde
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1999-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1999/320626
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author Victor Plourde
author_facet Victor Plourde
author_sort Victor Plourde
collection DOAJ
description Several autonomic, hormonal, behavioural and neuropeptidergic bodily responses to stressful stimuli have been described over the past few decades. Both animal models and human paradigms have been explored. It is acknowledged that stress modulates gastrointestinal (GI) motility through central mechanisms including corticotropin-releasing-factor. This process requires the integrity of autonomic neural pathways. It has become evident that the effects of stress on GI motility vary according to the stressful stimulus, its intensity, the animal species under study and the time course of the study. Recent evidence suggests that chronic or possibly permanent changes develop in enteric smooth muscle properties in response to stress. In animals, the most consistent findings include retardation of gastric emptying in response to various stressors; acceleration of gastric emptying upon cold stress, presumably through the secretion of brain thyroglobulin-hormone; acceleration of intestinal transit; and stimulation of colonic transit and fecal output. In humans, the cold water immersion test has been associated with an inhibition of gastric emptying, while labyrinthine stimulation induces the transition from postprandial to fasting motor patterns in the stomach and the small bowel. Psychological stress has been shown to induce a reduction in the number and amplitude of intestinal migrating motor complexes and to neither affect nor stimulate colonic motility. These various responses to stress are presumably attributed to the preferential activation of specific neuronal pathways under the influence of a given stimulus or its intensity. The significance of these findings and the directions of further studies are discussed.
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spelling doaj-art-07c26c4fcc5b49dfb8fb5b5101e3ba8f2025-02-03T05:47:58ZengWileyCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology0835-79001999-01-0113Suppl A26A31A10.1155/1999/320626Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor SystemVictor Plourde0CHUM, Saint-Luc Campus, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, CanadaSeveral autonomic, hormonal, behavioural and neuropeptidergic bodily responses to stressful stimuli have been described over the past few decades. Both animal models and human paradigms have been explored. It is acknowledged that stress modulates gastrointestinal (GI) motility through central mechanisms including corticotropin-releasing-factor. This process requires the integrity of autonomic neural pathways. It has become evident that the effects of stress on GI motility vary according to the stressful stimulus, its intensity, the animal species under study and the time course of the study. Recent evidence suggests that chronic or possibly permanent changes develop in enteric smooth muscle properties in response to stress. In animals, the most consistent findings include retardation of gastric emptying in response to various stressors; acceleration of gastric emptying upon cold stress, presumably through the secretion of brain thyroglobulin-hormone; acceleration of intestinal transit; and stimulation of colonic transit and fecal output. In humans, the cold water immersion test has been associated with an inhibition of gastric emptying, while labyrinthine stimulation induces the transition from postprandial to fasting motor patterns in the stomach and the small bowel. Psychological stress has been shown to induce a reduction in the number and amplitude of intestinal migrating motor complexes and to neither affect nor stimulate colonic motility. These various responses to stress are presumably attributed to the preferential activation of specific neuronal pathways under the influence of a given stimulus or its intensity. The significance of these findings and the directions of further studies are discussed.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1999/320626
spellingShingle Victor Plourde
Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
title Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System
title_full Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System
title_fullStr Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System
title_full_unstemmed Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System
title_short Stress-Induced Changes in the Gastrointestinal Motor System
title_sort stress induced changes in the gastrointestinal motor system
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1999/320626
work_keys_str_mv AT victorplourde stressinducedchangesinthegastrointestinalmotorsystem