The Effect of Oral Feeding on Gastric Emptying, Small Bowel Water Content, Superior Mesenteric Artery Blood Flow, Plasma Hormone Concentrations and Blood Volume in Obese and Healthy Weight Subjects.

Detailed Summary

Obesity is a complicated condition that is poorly understood. The aim of this study is to increase our knowledge of how the condition may arise, and what makes obese people remain obese. We will be investigating 12 people who are overweight and comparing them to 12 people who are lean, to look at how quickly food empties out of the stomach (gastric emptying) and travels through the gut, what the blood flow to the gut is, and also to examine the hormones which are involved in determining how full people feel after eating. In order to do this, we will be using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, and performing blood tests. The rate of gastric emptying may have an impact on satiety (how full one feels) and has been implied in the development of obesity. This effect has been shown to impact on subsequent meal intake to a greater degree in overweight subjects, and may be due to a difference in gastric emptying of food in overweight individuals, or to hormones such as ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide 1, and Peptide YY.

Study Details

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