Effects of loperamide hydrochloride on experimental diarrhea and gastrointestinal myoelectrical activity in calves.

The antidiarrheal action of loperamide hydrochloride was tested against diarrhea experimentally induced in calves by intraduodenal infusion of castor oil or hypertonic solution of mannitol. The motility of 4 levels of the digestive tract (abomasum, jejunum, and proximal and spiral loops of the colon) was concomitantly recorded, using an electromyographic technique. Loperamide hydrochloride given per os at 0.4 mg/kg or intraduodenally or subcutaneously at 0.1 mg/kg 1 hour before mannitol or castor oil was given delayed diarrhea. Loperamide hydrochloride given alone orally at a dosage of 0.4 mg/kg did not modify the motility pattern of the digestive tract. Intraduodenally administered loperamide hydrochloride (0.1 mg/kg) increased the frequency of the cyclic activity of the jejunum, whereas subcutaneously administered loperamide hydrochloride at the same dose selectively inhibited the motility of the jejunum. Intraduodenal infusion of mannitol was followed by a disruption of the cyclic activity of the jejunum, and this effect was not antagonized by loperamide hydrochloride, whatever the route of administration. Castor oil infusion was not accompanied with changes in gastrointestinal motility. These results indicate that loperamide hydrochloride is active against an experimentally induced diarrhea in calves and that this action is not mediated through an effect on the digestive motility, at least monitored by this electromyographic technique.