Effects of loxiglumide on gallbladder emptying in healthy volunteers

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of the specific cholecystokinin receptor antagonist loxiglumide on gallbladder emptying after a meal or after intravenous infusion of caerulein in humans. Ten healthy male volunteers were studied five times on separate days. The following five studies were performed in randomized order: (a) caerulein was intravenously infused at doses increasing from 7.5 to 120 ng/kg · h without the antagonist; (b) in addition to increasing doses of caerulein, loxiglumide was given intravenously at doses of 0.2, 1.0, or 5.0 mg/kg · h; (c) a solid-liquid 800-kcal meal was given without loxiglumide; (d) the 800-kcal meal was given with simultaneous infusion of 1 or 5 mg/kg · h loxiglumide; and (e) loxiglumide (5 mg/kg · h) was given without caerulein or the test meal. Gallbladder volume was measured by ultrasound. Loxiglumide dose-dependently inhibited gallbladder emptying induced by caerulein or the meal. High doses of the antagonist did not only abolish meal-induced gallbladder emptying but increased gallbladder volume after administration of caerulein or the meal when compared with prior fasting values. The antagonist given alone markedly increased gallbladder volumes compared with prior fasting values. In conclusion, cholecystokinin is the hormone primarily and mainly responsible for mediation of gallbladder emptying after a regular meal. Cholecystokinin might also play a physiologic role in the regulation of the fasting tone of the gallbladder.