Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. May 15, 2023; 14(5): 447-459
Published online May 15, 2023. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v14.i5.447
Inter-relationships between gastric emptying and glycaemia: Implications for clinical practice
Tejaswini Arunachala Murthy, Marianne Chapman, Karen L Jones, Michael Horowitz, Chinmay S Marathe
Tejaswini Arunachala Murthy, Marianne Chapman, Karen L Jones, Michael Horowitz, Chinmay S Marathe, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, SA, Australia
Tejaswini Arunachala Murthy, Marianne Chapman, Intensive Care Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide 5000, SA, Australia
Marianne Chapman, Karen L Jones, Michael Horowitz, Chinmay S Marathe, NHMRC Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Nutritional Physiology, Interventions and Outcomes, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, SA, Australia
Michael Horowitz, Chinmay S Marathe, Endocrine and Metabolic Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide 5000, SA, Australia
Author contributions: Arunachala Murthy T and Marathe CS contributed equally to this work; Arunachala Murthy T and Marathe CS designed the review and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tejaswini Arunachala Murthy, DA, MBBS, Doctor, Lecturer, Researcher, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000, SA, Australia. drpadminimurthy@gmail.com
Received: September 24, 2022
Peer-review started: September 24, 2022
First decision: November 27, 2022
Revised: December 9, 2022
Accepted: April 7, 2023
Article in press: April 7, 2023
Published online: May 15, 2023
Processing time: 233 Days and 6.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Gastric emptying (GE) is a major determinant of postprandial glycaemia in health, diabetes and critical illness. Acute hyperglycaemia slows GE while insulin-induced hypoglycaemia accelerates it. Gastroparesis occurs frequently in diabetes and critical illness with a weak correlation between gastrointestinal symptoms and GE. Accordingly, diagnosis of gastroparesis should ideally be made after measuring GE with an optimal technique. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, commonly used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and increasingly in obesity, may profoundly impact GE. We explore the rationale for current glycaemic targets and the implications of dysglycaemia and its management in hospitalised and critically ill populations.