99mTc-Tagged chicken liver as a marker of solid food in the human stomach

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Abstract
Past measurement of gastric emptying of solid food in man has depended on external counting of surface-absorbed isotopes without verification that isotopic labels remain attached to solid food in the stomach. In this study chicken liver was isotopically labeled with99mTc incorporated uniformly and intracellularly throughout the liver substance.In vitro studies showed less than 10% loss of99mTc from liver incubated with pepsin HCl. By contrast, up to 90% of51Cr adsorbed to scrambled eggs became detached under similar conditions. In feeding experiments less than 10% of99mTc was liberated from fed99mTc liver, while significantly more51Cr became detached from egg under identical intragastric conditions. We conclude that99mTc-tagged chicken liver is an adequate marker of the rate of emptying of solid food and appears to be more reliable than51Cr-labeled scrambled eggs from which51Cr dissociates in the stomach.