Assessing the Impact of Meal Volume on Body Surface Gastric Mapping Metrics in Healthy Controls

Assessing the Impact of Meal Volume on Body Surface Gastric Mapping Metrics in Healthy Controls | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessing the Impact of Meal Volume on Body Surface Gastric Mapping Metrics in Healthy Controls India Fitt, Mikaela Law, Gen Johnston, Charlotte Daker, Sam Simmonds, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9174024/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Chronic gastroduodenal symptoms are challenging to diagnose and treat. Body surface gastric mapping provides non-invasive biomarkers of gastric function, but the requirement of a standard meal for postprandial assessment can be difficult for severely symptomatic patients. Aims To assess the impact of reduced meal sizes and fasting on body surface gastric mapping metrics to determine clinical interpretability under non-standard nutritional loads. Methods Healthy controls (n=60) underwent a 4.5-hour Gastric Alimetry test. Three age, sex, and BMI-matched groups (n=20 each) were compared: Standard Meal (482 kCal), Nutrient bar + Water (250 kcal), and Fasted (no meal). Principal Gastric Frequency, Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index, BMI-Adjusted Amplitude, and fed:fasted Amplitude Ratio were analyzed against normative intervals. Results Meal status significantly affected amplitude-based metrics; the Standard Meal group exhibited higher BMI-Adjusted Amplitude (p<0.001) and fed:fasted Amplitude Ratio (p=0.001) than Fasted and Bar + Water groups. Frequency and rhythm-based metrics were resilient; Principal Gastric Frequency (p=0.245) and Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index (p=0.336) showed no significant differences across conditions. While amplitude deviations were common in the Fasted group (20% fell below the normative range), Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index and Principal Gastric Frequency remained within normal reference ranges for 95% of participants across all conditions. Conclusions While consuming <50% of the standard meal significantly reduces gastric amplitude, gastric rhythm remains stable. Principal Gastric Frequency and Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index function as reliable biomarkers of gastric myoelectrical function regardless of nutritional state. Gastric electrophysiology Fasting Gastric rhythm Biomarkers Functional dyspepsia early satiety Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 12 May, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 20 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 20 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 19 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9174024","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":639238698,"identity":"7513c082-f755-41f1-b6a4-cdc3f97c27fb","order_by":0,"name":"India Fitt","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Auckland","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"India","middleName":"","lastName":"Fitt","suffix":""},{"id":639238699,"identity":"daf55fbd-8823-48c1-b57b-0508047bdb0e","order_by":1,"name":"Mikaela Law","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Auckland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mikaela","middleName":"","lastName":"Law","suffix":""},{"id":639238700,"identity":"c3f5627f-b774-4b82-a9cc-5c454383087e","order_by":2,"name":"Gen Johnston","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Auckland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gen","middleName":"","lastName":"Johnston","suffix":""},{"id":639238701,"identity":"bca665c2-8422-4ac1-af8e-5039b7ddf6c8","order_by":3,"name":"Charlotte Daker","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Alimetry Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Charlotte","middleName":"","lastName":"Daker","suffix":""},{"id":639238702,"identity":"9e1f7060-bd9a-4001-976a-07ddb83ace70","order_by":4,"name":"Sam Simmonds","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Alimetry Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sam","middleName":"","lastName":"Simmonds","suffix":""},{"id":639238703,"identity":"d582ceb8-e4e0-4c6d-8445-efef8ad52df7","order_by":5,"name":"Billy Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Alimetry Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Billy","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":639238704,"identity":"43fc8934-e0ec-42a1-8aa6-30325f76a262","order_by":6,"name":"Nicky Dachs","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Alimetry Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicky","middleName":"","lastName":"Dachs","suffix":""},{"id":639238705,"identity":"c9e3afe5-02c5-4ef6-93ff-65f4ef9063aa","order_by":7,"name":"Gabriel Schamberg","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Alimetry Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabriel","middleName":"","lastName":"Schamberg","suffix":""},{"id":639238706,"identity":"8392e7e4-49ff-4c50-9f36-49d6cd51be1e","order_by":8,"name":"Chris Varghese","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Auckland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chris","middleName":"","lastName":"Varghese","suffix":""},{"id":639238707,"identity":"eeaabad5-e179-4f1d-9bbc-7cbd4f5cc7e8","order_by":9,"name":"Armen Gharibans","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Auckland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Armen","middleName":"","lastName":"Gharibans","suffix":""},{"id":639238708,"identity":"91ae0218-3db3-40c1-8e12-6e9068e8bb51","order_by":10,"name":"Thomas L Abell","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Louisville","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"L","lastName":"Abell","suffix":""},{"id":639238709,"identity":"69ffc2d2-c0da-48f5-b583-a5f7ee0e6df4","order_by":11,"name":"Christopher N. 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Body surface gastric mapping provides non-invasive biomarkers of gastric function, but the requirement of a standard meal for postprandial assessment can be difficult for severely symptomatic patients.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAims To assess the impact of reduced meal sizes and fasting on body surface gastric mapping metrics to determine clinical interpretability under non-standard nutritional loads.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods Healthy controls (n=60) underwent a 4.5-hour Gastric Alimetry test. Three age, sex, and BMI-matched groups (n=20 each) were compared: Standard Meal (482 kCal), Nutrient bar + Water (250 kcal), and Fasted (no meal). Principal Gastric Frequency, Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index, BMI-Adjusted Amplitude, and fed:fasted Amplitude Ratio were analyzed against normative intervals.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults Meal status significantly affected amplitude-based metrics; the Standard Meal group exhibited higher BMI-Adjusted Amplitude (p\u0026lt;0.001) and fed:fasted Amplitude Ratio (p=0.001) than Fasted and Bar + Water groups. Frequency and rhythm-based metrics were resilient; Principal Gastric Frequency (p=0.245) and Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index (p=0.336) showed no significant differences across conditions. While amplitude deviations were common in the Fasted group (20% fell below the normative range), Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index and Principal Gastric Frequency remained within normal reference ranges for 95% of participants across all conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusions While consuming \u0026lt;50% of the standard meal significantly reduces gastric amplitude, gastric rhythm remains stable. Principal Gastric Frequency and Gastric Alimetry Rhythm Index function as reliable biomarkers of gastric myoelectrical function regardless of nutritional state.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessing the Impact of Meal Volume on Body Surface Gastric Mapping Metrics in Healthy Controls","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-13 17:43:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9174024/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-05-12T04:30:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-21T03:08:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-03-20T04:45:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Digestive Diseases and Sciences","date":"2026-03-20T02:25:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"digestive-diseases-and-sciences","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ddsj","sideBox":"Learn more about [Digestive Diseases and Sciences](http://link.springer.com/journal/10620)","snPcode":"10620","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10620/3","title":"Digestive Diseases and Sciences","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e61be087-f509-4e08-addb-b90e9a455277","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"10","date":"2026-05-12T04:30:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-13T17:43:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-13 17:43:32","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9174024","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9174024","identity":"rs-9174024","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}