Accurate measurement of intestinal transit in the rat.

A new method for quantifying intestinal transit was evaluated by comparison with two other popular techniques. The distribution of radiochromium (51Cr) throughout the small intestine of rats previously treated with saline (1.0 ml/kg s.c.), capsaicin (10 mg/kg s.c.), hexamethonium (20 mg/kg i.p.), D-ala2-met-enkephalinamide (1.0 microgram i.c.v.), or neostigmine (0.1 mg/kg i.p.) was quantified by (1) measuring the most distal intestinal segment reached by chromium, (2) calculating the slope produced by linear regression analysis on cumulative percent chromium that had passed through each segment, and (3) determining the geometric center of the distribution of chromium throughout the small intestine. It was concluded that the geometric center methods for quantifying intestinal transit provides the most sensitive and reliable measure of intestinal transit. Less sensitive techniques often fail to detect important effects of drugs on intestinal transit.