Alterations in motor function of the small intestine from intravenous and intraluminal cholecystokinin.

Cholecystokinin has been found within the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract; however, its effect on intestinal motility has not been studied. We examined the effect of intraluminal and intravenous infusion of the octapeptide of cholecystokinin (CCK-OP) on myoelectric activity in the intestine of rabbits. CCK-OP was infused intraluminally at 1,000 ng X kg-1 X h-1, and portal venous blood samples were obtained hourly for plasma immunoreactive CCK. CCK-OP was also infused intravenously at a similar rate, and hourly peripheral venous blood samples were obtained for plasma immunoreactive CCK. Myoelectric activity was monitored in a 12-cm ligated ileal segment and the proximal adjacent small intestine after the infusion of intraluminal or intravenous CCK-OP. Intraluminal infusion of CCK-OP caused a significant increase (P less than 0.01) in both migrating action potential complexes (MAPC) and repetitive bursts of action potentials (RBAP) (3.1 +/- 0.8 MAPC/h and 4.6 +/- 1.3 RBAP/h). In contrast, intravenous CCK-OP induced only repetitive bursts of action potentials (8.3 +/- 1.7 RBAP/h, P less than 0.01). In summary, alterations in intestinal motility may vary according to the route of administration of the individual peptide. Furthermore, results from these studies suggest that intraluminal release of regulatory peptides may be important in the modulation of intestinal motility.