Gastric motility and its association with adiposity and metabolic health in a cohort of Sri Lankan office workers

doi:10.4291/wjgp.v16.i4.112536

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World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology

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2150-5330

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World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Dec 22, 2025; 16(4): 112536
Published online Dec 22, 2025. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v16.i4.112536

Gastric motility and its association with adiposity and metabolic health in a cohort of Sri Lankan office workers

Pradeepa Isurumali Basnayake, Dulani Kottahachchi, Dinu Santha Chandran, Kushan Medagoda, Niranga Manjuri Devanarayana

Pradeepa Isurumali Basnayake, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Ratnapura 70012, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka

Dulani Kottahachchi, Kushan Medagoda, Niranga Manjuri Devanarayana, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama 11010, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Dinu Santha Chandran, Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India

Author contributions: Basnayake PI contributed to the study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, and wrote the initial draft; Kottahachchi D, Chandran DS, and Medagoda K helped study design and revised final manuscript; Devanarayana NM conceptualized the study and contributed to the study design, data collection (by conducting motility studies), interpretation of data, and writing and revising the manuscript; All authors approved the final version to be published.

Supported by the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, Research Grant, No. RP/03/04/03/01/2022.

Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethical Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka (Ref. No: P/127/09/2022).

Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from each participant.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement - checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement - checklist of items.

Data sharing statement: The dataset is available from the corresponding author at niranga@kln.ac.lk. Participants provided informed consent for data sharing; however, the presented data are anonymized, and the risk of identification is considered low.

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: Niranga Manjuri Devanarayana, Professor, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Western Province, Sri Lanka. niranga@kln.ac.lk

Received: July 30, 2025
Revised: August 13, 2025
Accepted: October 29, 2025
Published online: December 22, 2025
Processing time: 145 Days and 17 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Gastric motility is an essential gastrointestinal function. It can be influenced by age, gender, body composition, and metabolic status. However, published data on these associations remains limited.

AIM

To assess the relationship between gastric motility and adiposity, and metabolic indicators in a cohort of Sri Lankan office workers.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 130 office workers (58.5% females) aged 20-50 years (mean 36.81, SD 8.85 years) of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Gastric motility was assessed by real-time ultrasonography, using a previously validated method. Fasting antral area (FAA), postprandial antral areas at 1 minutes and 15 minutes (AA1, AA15), and antral contraction frequency (FAC) were measured, and gastric emptying rate (GER) and antral motility index were calculated. Anthropometric parameters were obtained using sensitive scales. Glycated hemoglobin, lipid profile, and liver enzyme levels were measured at an accredited laboratory.

RESULTS

The mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.36 (SD 4.09) kg/m², and 39.2% were overweight or obese. Increased abdominal adiposity was detected in 29.2% and 40.8% had high waist-to-hip ratios. Prediabetes/diabetes were observed in 20.0%, hypercholesterolemia in 47.7%, hypertriglyceridemia in 14.7%, high low-density lipoproteins in 39.2%, and elevated aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase in 5.4% and 21.5% respectively. FAA had a weak negative correlation with high-density lipoprotein level (r = -0.227, P = 0.009), and a positive correlation with waist circumference (r = 0.235, P = 0.007), and waist-to-hip ratio (r = 0.244, P = 0.005). GER and AA1 correlated weakly with triglyceride (GER: r = 0.174, P = 0.048; AA1: r = 0.194, P = 0.027) and VLDL levels (GER: r = 0.183, P = 0.038; AA1: r = 0.195, P = 0.026). In females, AA1 positively correlated with triglycerides (r = 0.333, P = 0.003), and VLDL levels (r = 0.337, P = 0.003), and AA15 with BMI (r = 0.284, P = 0.013) and hip circumference (r = 0.229, P = 0.047). FAC negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.234, P = 0.042) and hip circumference (r = -0.247, P = 0.032).

CONCLUSION

Gastric motility parameters showed weak associations with metabolic indicators, particularly lipid profiles, and to a lesser extent, with adiposity indicators. The greater number of correlations observed in females suggests the possibility of sex-specific differences in these associations. These findings highlight potential relationships that require confirmation through longitudinal studies.

Keywords: Antral area; Body fat; Body mass index; Gastric emptying; Gastric motility; Lipid profile; Metabolic health; Office workers; Sri Lanka

Core Tip: This study investigated gastric motility in a cohort of Sri Lankan office workers, focusing on its associations with body mass index, adiposity, and metabolic indicators. Males showed significantly larger fasting antral areas, while in females, gastric motility was more closely linked to measures of adiposity and lipid profiles. These findings underscore the influence of metabolic status, particularly lipid metabolism, on gastric motor function, with notable sex-specific patterns. The results provide new insights into the potential impact of metabolic derangements on gastrointestinal physiology and support early identification of individuals at risk for motility disorders.