Comparison of nuclear scintigraphy and acetaminophen absorption as a means of studying gastric emptying in horses.

The study explores and assesses the correlation between nuclear scintigraphy, a type of imaging scan, and oral acetaminophen absorption in studying how fast a horse’s stomach empties. The research shows a significant correlation, suggesting that acetaminophen absorption might be an effective alternative to nuclear scintigraphy for studying gastric emptying in horses with normally functioning small intestines.

Methods

• The study involved 6 mature horses. The horses were administered technetium Tc 99m pentetate through nuclear scintigraphy and orally given acetaminophen.
• While administering these, serial left and right lateral images of the horse’s stomach region were captured using a gamma camera. The T50 period, the time taken for half of the technetium to leave the horse’s stomach was then calculated. Both the left and right images and the geometric mean were used to calculate T50 independently.
• Power exponential curves were used to estimate T50 and the modified R2 values helped evaluate how well the data fit into these estimates.
• The researchers also took serum samples serially to determine the concentration of acetaminophen through a fluorescence polarization immunoassay. They calculated the maximum serum concentration (Cmax), time to reach maximum serum concentration (Tmax), and area under the curve for 240 minutes. The absorption constant (Ka) was calculated using a parameter estimation program. The correlations were then determined using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient.

Results

• The results showed significant correlations between T50 and Tmax as well as T50 and Ka. These results signify that Tmax and Ka are important factors in studying how quickly liquid leaves the horse’s stomach using acetaminophen absorption.

Conclusions

• The research concluded that Tmax and Ka are essential variables in assessing the gastric emptying rate using acetaminophen absorption.
• They suggested that acetaminophen absorption might provide a valuable alternative to the traditional method of nuclear scintigraphy for studying gastric emptying rates in horses that have normal small intestine function. This adjustment might be significantly useful considering the adverse potential effects of radiation exposure from nuclear scintigraphy.